A Break In The Past
by Lollisalol
Summary: Hanaemori-chan left Ouran Middle School, leaving behind unresolved conflicts with the Hitachiin twins. Trying to reconnect and trying to fit back in proves not such an easy task. HikaruxOC
1. A Past Friend?

The Ouran High School Host Club Fanfiction by Lisa! :D

Chapter One: The Hitachiin Twins Past Friend!

A/N: So I have never done an OHSHC fanfic before. :D I would like some comments are reviews. I actually finished reading the manga as I wrote this, and I saw some of the ideas I had were already in the managa, so forgive those! (I already had 3 chapters written. Bisco-senpai and I must have similar ideas! :DDDD )

But anyways, yeah. It's HikaruxOC and I hope everyone enjoys it! =]

Haruhi-chan's Point of View!

I walked into the host club, ready for whatever chaotic theme awaited me.

And shockingly, there wasn't one. No theme. No costumes. No decorations.

And no talking.

Just Music Room #3.

Oh yeah, and Hikaru sulking in a corner.

Hunny-kun saw me and his eyes lit up. "Haru-chan!~" He immediately hugged me and then put on a super sad face which just made him look ages younger than he really is."Haru-cahn! Haru-chan, where have you been? Something's wrong with Hika-kun and no one can cheer him up!"

"Uh? Hikaru? What happened?" I asked, once again being left out of the loop.

Tamaki-senpai cleared his throat in order to explain. "Oh, Haruhi, it's both terrible and wonderful! Hikaru's long lost love is back to haunt him-"

Hikaru punched him in the face.

"I am NOT in love with anyone!" He yelled, then went back to his corner of the room to sulk.

Kaoru was sitting on one of the tables and sighed, "He's lost."

"I'm still not understading what happened."

Kyoya fixed his glasses and spoke in his usual cool demeanor. "This is what you missed today, Haruhi-chan."

***Flashback!* note: flashbacks are all 3rd person**

_Hikaru and Kaoru walk into the host club laughing and smiling, like usual._

_"Hika-kun, Kao-kun! A newwww classmate for youuuu~ Haha! Are you happy? Maybe she'll visit us! Ohhhh, I hope she likes Usa~chan, oh oh oh~ and cake!" Hunny said in excitement._

_"Hunny-senpai, do you know who our new classmate is?" Kaoru asked._

_"Mm, no...but Kyo~kun does! :D He's talking to Tama~kun right now!" _

_"Kaoru...__**why **__do we care?" Hikaru asked his twin brother in a semi annoyed tone._

_"Another pretty girl in our class? Hikaru, brother, I am __**shocked **__you're so willing to throw away a chance for a new toy!"_

_"Hmph, well I guess we __**should**__ find out who she it. Especially if she's going to be a new costumer. We should welcome her since she is our new classmate." Both of the Hitachiin twins wore devilish grins. They knew they were going to beat Tamaki for the month in requests if they kept up their twincest facade. _

_"Oi! Kyoya-senpai! Who's the new girl?"_

_"She's American and Japanese, and quite the sudent it seems, except for math... She's going to inher-"_

_"Name, please."_

_"Hanaemori Arrington,-"_

_"What." Hikaru has frozen right up at the meer mention of this girl's name. Kaoru, always alert to his brother's emotions, looked concerned and squeezed Hikaru's hand._

_"Hika~kun? What's wrong?" Hunny asked, totally innocent._

_Hikaru went off like Tamaki often does, and sulked, in the same fashion as the Host Club's "King" still does daily.  
><em>  
><strong>*End Flashback!*<strong>

"And that is what occured."

"Why is he so upset about our new classmate, ah Hanamoni?"

"Hanaemore..." Hikaru sighed and continued sulking.

Now I was getting annoyed. "Kaoru-kun, would you _please_ tell me what the big fuss is all about? She's just another student, right?"

Kaoru sighed. "Not at all. Back in middle school, she was our classmate..."

***Flashback!* (Kaoru narrarating)**

As you know, we didn't really have too many friends before we joined the Host Club. But one day Hanaemori just transferred into our class. I remember it perfectly. She had just moved here from America, but her Japanese was impeccable.

And like always...Hikaru and I thought of her as a new toy.

But...we were wrong.

When she first walked into our class... and even then our whole class froze. She was a totally different breed of person than any of us were used to. She gave off a confidence, an independence, that we could never understand. And she had this look that could make people just shut up and stare. A living body made up of confidence and pride.

In a way, she was like us. Independent, and not caring about those around her at all, she made us feel strange. Territorial in a sense.

So we went to go talk to her.

The difference with her compared to all of the other girls was that she didn't care.

AND to make matters worse, she got our "Who's Hikaru?" game right on the first try and with a reason.

She pointed to Hikaru and said in a calm, unphased voice, "You're Hikaru..." and she pointed to me. "You're Kaoru." We asked her how she knew, being as childish as we were. And she just looked at us. "It's really quite are two different people. Though you may look the same, you're not." And she walked away from us and our childish behavior.

We really didn't know what to make of it. But it bugged us. So we talked to her every single day.

"Why do you two talk to me all the time?" She gave us that look that she gave the class on her first day and I froze. But Hikaru was unphased and spoke up for us. "Because even though you're different, you're like us." She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It's really quite simple really," he continued. "Although you may look different than us, you're personality and way of thinking is quite similar to ours."

And she laughed. It wasn't a mocking laugh, but an amused and happy laugh. And once she finished, she mused,"I guess this makes us partners in crime. Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun, it is nice to finally meet you."

And we laughed. We were friends. My brother and I had another friend in the world. It was nice.

We all hung out, a trio. At first, people weren't sure what to think, but they became used to it. Time went by, months and months.

And then she told us she was going back to America in a month.

We weren't sure how to handle the loss, especially Hikaru. He took it much worse. He stopped talking to her completely from that day forth.

***End Flashback!***

"You see," Kaoru-kun started whispering. "Hikaru had a bit of a crush on her...Maybe even more than-"

"I don't love anyone," Hikaru-kun grumbled under his breath.

"He's just mad because he ended it so horribly with her. And he thinks she won't like him. Even though back then..." Kaoru stopped, trying to see if Hikaru would fall for the bait. Which he did.

"What? Brother, what have you been keeping from me?" Hikar shook his brother's shoulders.

"It was obvious she liked you. But it was even more obvious to say she loved you."

And Hikaru's hands dropped to his side.

"Don't lie to me brother." And Hikaru walked out of Music Room #3.

I looked over and I saw Tamaki-senpai with a look of extreme determination on his face.

"How beautiful is the curse that is love! The clasic tale of two star-crossed lovers being reunited at last, only to face more obstacles!" He pulled out a rose from his coat pocket. "It's time to help these two fall back in lo-"

"Tamaki! Don't you dare!" Kaoru said. "We have enough drama as it is! No more! It's for them to fix."

"Man...Poor Hikaru-kun." I said, feeling bad for the guy. He never could express emotion well enough, and so he acts like a child sometimes.

Kaoru sighed for what seemed like the upteenth time today. "It really is up to him. Let's just hope he doesn't mess up twice."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (In the classroom)

"Class, this is Hanaemore Arrington. Some of you may remember her from the Ouran middle school. Please make sure to make her return comfortable and with open arms."

Hanaemori bowed courteously. "It is my pleasure to return and see you all again, and to meet the many new faces I haven't seen yet."

She looked familiar. Strangely so. But she was really pretty. Her hair was dark brown and layered multiple times. Through part of it, she had a royal purple streak blasting through it, and making her appear that much prettier.

She walked over and sat by me, and smiled. "Nice to meet you." Her eyes were a brilliant jade green and she was slim and tall.

"Oh, yes, I'm-"

"Who would like to be Hanaemori's guide for today?" The teacher said.

Immediately, just about all of the hands in the classroom went up, including Kaoru's. Hikaru kept his hands to his side.

"Haruhi! Would you like to be her guide?" I really couldn't say no, so I nodded. I turned back to Hanaemori-chan. "I'm Haruhi. It's a pleasure to meet you Hanaemori-chan." I gave her a bright smile. And she just looked at me. Like she suspected I was not a boy. Oh jeez...

After class, she waited for me. "Haruhi, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure!"

"You do know you're a girl,right?" I gulped and tried laughing it off. "And that you're not really a good liar."

Just then Kaoru came over.

"Hanaechan! You never even waved to me!" He put his arm around her.

"Kaoru-kun! Long time no see! I was kinda busy back there with all the people and all."

"Me, you're forgiven, but never ignore me ever again. Kay?" And they hugged. But Hikaru stood several yards away, and he was looking in the opposite direction. Hanaemori-chan looked at him, and had a sad look in her eyes.

"Forget about my rude brother. We have to introduce you to some very important people." Kaoru winked at Hanaemori and she laughed. "I have a feeling I should be worried." She said anxiously.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kaoru and I walked her to the Host Club and Hikaru went off somewhere. The jerk.

As soon as we walked in, everyone greeted her kindly.

"Hanaemori-chan! I'm Hunny! And this is my Usa-chan! :D" Hunny excitedly skipped up to her.

"Very nice to meet the both of you!"

"Do you like cake? We have a tonnnn here! :D"

"Yes I do! I love cake! And you and Usa-chan are adorable." Hunny went off smiling a wide smile and skipped around the room. He was singing, he was so happy.

"I am Tamaki! The Host Club'c president! It is my pleasure to meet such a beautiful princess." Our "King" held out a rose.

"Well, Mr. President. You are kinda really annoying. But erm. Nice to meet you." Kaoru and I struggled not to laugh as Tamaki's princely demeanor was shattered.

Kyoya introduced himself next. "I am Kyoya. Vice President of the Ouran High School Host Club. It is my honor to meet the heiress of the Arrington estate. I am sure we will do business one day."

Leave it to Kyoya to talk about work at a time like this.

"This~ is my cousin Mori!" Hunny said. "He doesn't talk much." Mori shook Hanaemori's hand and she smiled.

"We're one member short." Kyoya said.

"Hikaru. How rude. And he calls himself a host." Tamaki ranted.

Just then, Hikaru entered the room slowly and without a word. He never paid any attention to Hanaemori's presence and he walked on and sat down in a chair.

Kaoru glared at him, knowing how rude it was, especially to an old friend.

"Ignore him, if he acts like a child, he deserves to be punished like a child." Tamaki said. It was shockingly good advice. So I tried to get everyone on topic.

"Hanaemori-chan, do you still remember anyone you went to middle school with here?"

"Well, of course there's Kaoru-kun and Hikaru..."She paused a moment. "Several others. Nekozawa was in my class as well as several others. A lot of new faces are here."

Everyone started talking. And socializing. And Kaoru made some jokes about Hanaemori-chan and she made some about him.

But the tension was there. It was tangible. And Hanaemori-chan stole glances at Hikaru-kun. And I thought I saw Hikaru look this way a few times.

And then she stood up and walked toward him. She was the kind of person that could at least forgive and forget. Hikaru wasn't though.

"How have you been Hikaru-kun? It's been a while."

Hikaru didnt't even look at her. But he answered. "Yup. So now that you're back, why don't you go back to America and just leave again?"

She looked like she expected it, but I could see the pang of grief cross over her face.

"I guess I deserve that. I'm sorry you feel that way Hikaru. I guess I'll see you around." And with that said and done, the girl left Music Room #3 with teary eyes and a look of sadness plastered onto her face.

A roaring **SMACK** sound came from where Hikaru was. Tamaki had slapped him across the face. Hikaru didn't move an inch.

"You made a beautiful girl cry. For some childish reason, you can not only not forgive her, but you insulted her. That is **not** how a host behaves. As King, I demand you apologize to her immediately!"

Hikaru just sat there, staring back at Tamaki with an unrelenting gaze. "She'll just leave again anyway. It doesn't even matter." He stood up and pushed past Tamaki-senpai and left the room. Kaoru immediately followed.

**Kaoru POV**

"Hikaru! Hiiikarruuuu!" I ran after my brother, hoping he might listen to reason.

"What, Kaoru." He was determined to block out the whole chaos of Hanaemori coming back. He stopped walking and looked at me with a neutral expression.

I tried getting my breath. "That...That wasn't fair Hikaru. She never even had a chance to explain."

"Kaoru, don't tell me you're taking her side."

"What side! And if there were sides, I would take hers!" I shook him. "Brother, you made an innocent girl cry today. She has done nothing wrong."

"To you. To me, she just abandoned us. Just like our maid. Remember that, Kaoru?"

"Hikaru..."

"Enough. I'm going to go think."

-*next day* **Haruhi POV**-

I sat down for class and Kaoru came up to me in a depressed mood.

"He's upset. And stubborn."

"Mm, Kaoru-kun, you don't look too good yourself."

"I stayed up all night researching her family. I'm trying to figure out why she left."

"Did you find anything out?"

"Yeah, and it really makes this whole thing even worse. Now I'm even more upset that Hikaru is so stubborn."

"Good morning Kaoru-kun and Haruhi-kun." Hanaemori-chan sat down next to me, pretending as if nothing occured yesterday. But no matter how hard she tried, I could tell she was still upset. Her eyes were slightly puffy, which probably meant she cried.

"Hanae-chan, let me apologize for my brother's rude behavior yesterday." Kaoru bowed gracefully, still trying to be a gentleman.

"No need for apology, Kaoru-kun."

"Excuse me Hanaemori-chan, but we both know my brother was in the wrong."

"Kaoru's right, Hanaemori-chan. Hikaru shouldn't have done that," I said, speaking defensively.

"Thank you, both of you. However, due to the new tension presented, I won't be visiting the Host Club for a while."

"Hanae-chan, you shouldn't-"

"I don't want to be in the way of your business."

-*later on in The Host Club*-

"Wah! No Hanae-chan?" Hunny said with sad teary eyes. "Bu-but, I wanted to eat cake with her!"

Hikaru said nothing...And I could see Kaoru was getting more upset.

"It's such a shame. Her appearance here would have been great for business."

"Will you stop talking about her? She's just going to disappear, so she's not even worth all this talk. She's no-"

"Hikaru!" Kaoru stood up. "I can't stand how badly you're misbehaving! She isn't no one; she is our friend, and you're treating her like dirt! She left because she had too!"

Everyone was still and watched as the twins started to truly fight.

"There's no excuse! She left! What kind of reason could she have had!" Hikaru debated back at him.

"It...it isn't my place to tell you, but in order to make you behave, to act like a normal person, come with me. At this point, I really don't think she would care. Do you remember her parents at all Hikaru?"

"Yeah? They were kind of restrictive, so what?"

"Let me finish. Do you also remember the week she told us she was moving? Remember how she was gone for a few days?"

"Kaoru, if this isn't going any-"

"They died, Hikaru." Everyone stayed even quieter now.

Hikaru put his head down out of shame.

"I'm a selfish idiot."

-**Hikaru POV**-

I really cannot believe I said what I did to her. I cannot believe that I was such an idiot.

-**Kaoru POV-**

"Kaoru-kun, did they really-"

"Yeah. And we never knew. She never said a word. It's just the kind of person she is. To make sure we never worried."

"Poor Hanae-chan..." Hunny said. We all frowned.

-**Hikaru POV**-

Where is she? I checked all the classrooms. And I remembered she always really liked flower gardens.

-**Hanae-chan POV**-

I walked outside, hoping I could find some quiet place to think. I just wanted to go and hide, just like always.

Did he really hate me that much?

I stopped and looked around, and quickly realized I was in the maze flower garden.

But how do I get out?

-*host club* **Haruhi POV**-

"You know, Hikaru's been gone for quite a long time now." I said.

"I wonder if he found Hanae-chan..." Hunny said. Tamaki had a very somber look and Kyoya was typing rather quickly, even for himself. Kaoru just stood by the window and looked outside.

-**Hikaru**-

"Gah!" Where could this girl be? I walked into the maze garden, really hoping that she did not go in and instead went to the regular flower gardens.

"Hanae-chan!" I yelled, hoping she would hear me.

-**Hanaemori**-

I heard someone calling my name. And it sounded a lot like Hikaru?

"Hello?" I called back.

"Hanae-chan! Where are you?"

"Hikaru!"

-**Hikaru**-

"Yeah! Where ARE you?"

"Um...Somewhere in the maze!...I'm kinda lost."

Of course she is. Her sense of direction is horrible.

"Is there anything that... is different where you are? Something completely different from the rest of the garden?"

"I'm by a gazebo thingy!"

"I'll be there in a minute! So don't move!"

-**Hanaemori**-

I could not believe that Hikaru was actually looking for me. But I knew it wasn't Kaoru. Is this some kind of trick? Is it some ploy to get me to leave?

"Hikaru?" I said quite loudly, not realizing it. He was still on his way, and I was hoping he didn't hear me.

"Yeah?" Crud. He heard me. I might as well ask.

"Why are you looking for me?"

-**Hikaru**-

I really didn't have an answer for her question. I really wasn't sure what to say. So I stopped thinking and said what first came to mind.

"Because even though you're different, you're the same as us. You've made friends here. And I was, as usual, being an idiot." As I turned a corner, I saw her standing, facing the opposite direction. I quietly walked up behind her. "You're our third musketeer." And she turned around and I smiled at her. "And I'm really sorry."

She just stood there, looking at me for a minute. And she smiled the familiar smile I haven't seen for a few years. "You're forgiven."

"I'm not done. I want to... well I want to be a little more serious and truthful here." I looked at her seriously, and she seemed confused. I frowned a little. "I...well I found out why you left...and I never had a chance to tell you how sorry I am. I never tried to keep in touch with you. I didn't even say goodbye. And I was a selfish idiot. I'm sorry for everything-"

"Hikaru." She totally interrupted me during my awesome non-selfish speech! :O

But then she smiled. "You're still forgiven."

I hugged her, happy to have everything back to normal. And she hugged me back after a minute.

"Friends?" I asked her.  
>"Friends," she said.<p>

And I smiled.

-***Chapter End!*...kinda.**-


	2. Post Chapter Closer for Chapter One!

_**Post Chapter Closer!**_

-**Haruhi**-

"I'm getting a little worried. It's starting to get dark..." I said. A Few seconds later, the doors opened and Hikaru and Hanaemori entered the Host Club.

"Hanae-chan!" Tamaki, Hunny, and Kaoru all hugged her at once. She didn't really expect it. They were all worrying about her, especially once Kaoru mentioned she gets horribly lost in the most ridiculous of situations.

"You're okay!" Kaoru exclaimed as he cuddle-hugged her.

"I was so worried! TwT" Hunny said as he hugged her waist.

"Hikaru was an idiot! I'M SO SORRY HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT. T_T"

Hikaru made a face at Tamaki and Hunny dragged Hanaemori away from the hug fest that was mostly Kaoru and Tamaki, and took her to the table he had set up with a delicate array of sweets and tea.

"I had all different kinds made just for you and me! We can eat all we want, ok, Hanae-chan? :D"

-**Kaoru**-

"Good job Hikaru! Now when's the wedding! X)" I said, hoping to get a funny reaction out of him.

He choked on a piece of cake and gave me an annoyed glare.

"Just kidding brother!:3" I said all innocently so he doesn't prank me while sleeping. He grinned too and laughed and for the first time in two days we smiled and had fun together again. Yay~

Even though I KNEW they were perfect for one another...but they've still got a loooong way to go for any type of relationship other than friends.

-**REAL end of chapter!**-


	3. Ch2 A Deal Made, Runaway Trains, Bad Ac

A/N: So this is an especially long chapter. Almost 10,000 words... hehehe. I would like to hopefully get some reviews soon!  
>Here's a little note to remember... Although Hanae-chan's relationships are growing stronger, she still feels a little left out. It's a big thing that she doesn't let on. I had to explain that to my friend...So...yeah.<p>

Enjoy this chapter! I listened to the Ouran High School Host Club OSTs on Itunes while writing this. Chapter three should be updated by the end of the week, hopefully! (I've been sick so I couldn't write D: ) Thank you! Maybe if you're nice, Hunny-senpai will bring everyone cake~ :D

3 Lollisalol 3

Chapter 2: A Deal Made, Runaway Trains, Bad Acting, Cherry Blossoms, and The Regular Drama

-**Hanaemori**-

Earlier today, I received a letter from Kyoya, requesting a few minutes of my time for a business meeting. Great. I had a feeling this would be more for his benefit than for my own.

As I walked toward the Host Club, I realized it was oddly quiet today, No signs of Hikaru or Kaoru, and I glimpsed Haruhi once being taken away by Tamaki. Hunny didn't greet me with cake, so that means I didn't see Mori either, but his presence really wouldn't have made any difference on the noise level. And Kyoya's appearance was only through this letter.

I reached the doors to Music Room #3, and opened the door. Inside, Kyoya sat typing away as usual, however, no one was around.

"Ah, Hanaemori... Good, right on time," he said with a smile that to me seemed for business use only.

"Good afternoon Kyoya-senpai," I said with a polite bow on my part.

"No need for those stuffy labels. We are on equal terms here." Yup, business. "Would you like to take a seat?" I nodded and continued toward the table he sat at, taking a seat across from him.

He shut his laptop and sipped a little bit of what I believed was Rosehip tea, from the fragrant smell. I looked down, and there was a hot cup poured for me already, along with a small lemon tea cake.

"Now, Hanaemori, your return to the Ouran School system has caused quite a stir. Do you know why that is?" Well, I kind of figured it was the whole model since I was 2 thing. I shook my head.

"I'm sure you have an idea. Many people here consider you the embodiment of what is modern and trending in the world today. You are quite the attraction here at Ouran, yet shockingly enough, no cameras or media has surrounded our school. Why is that so?" I figured he would go here first. After taking a sip of what I guessed was Rosemary tea, and guessed right, I spoke," I figured you would notice if anyone did. Well, it hasn't actually been announced that I left America. I'm sure my photographers are just now founding out from my representatives. I couldn't really leave without being on tabloids across the United States."

"Hmm, wise move. However, imagine the rumors that may circulate."

"I really do not care. I just didn't want to deal with the media following my every move. It was a pain. Always has been."

"Ah, well that is interesting. Now, my proposition for you is simple. Not much at all. In fact, you might even enjoy it." I took a bite of the tea cake and watched him carefully. He was an extremely calculated person, making sure he didn't make any any wrong move, or say anything to possibly make me reject his offer. It made me smile a little to see what kind of person he really was.

"You, around Ouran High School, are quite famous. And The Host Club needs a way to provide advertising in order to draw more customers in. However, due to school policy, no paid advertising is allowed due to some past conflicts in past situations involving the Host Club. I was hoping you could 'sponsor' the Host Club, by making an appearance here, as much as possible, so many people can see you visit here. You are what's trending, so you can provide a lot of customers to visit the Host Club much more often. This position of sponsorship merely means you sit here and drink tea and cake, perhaps engaging in some small talk with some of the customers. Oh, and with any theme day or events, you would have to be present. And participate."

"And what if I say no?"

"Well, that is your decision. However, I can call every US and major news sources to your enrollment here at Ouran, so take your pick." He smiled that smile that made me slightly hate him, and I just sat there. He's tricky.

"Well then, I guess the answer is yes to your proposal of sponsoring the Host Club."

FWOOP!

A strange sound resonated throughout the old music room, and I saw a stage rising out of the floor near us. What in the world?

"Banzai!" The rest of the Host Club was on the stage popping confetti blasters and smiling wide grins.

"Congratulations!" Tamaki said.

"You are-" Kaoru continued, but then cutoff.

"Now part-" Hikaru continued where Kaoru left off and Hunny took over.  
>"Of the-"<br>"OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB!" They all yelled simultaneously (cept Mori just stood there...like usual)

"She hasn't signed the contract yet..." Kyoya said, slightly impatient.

They all looked at him blankly and just stared.

"Just let me sign it now and quickly so I don't have to endure that all over again," I muttered, hoping that I wouldn't have to go through that heart attack inducing act.

I signed the contract and then everyone clapped.

"Your first appearance is today. Now, I must remind you that we do accept suggestions, so feel free to make any."

"First appearance... already?"

"Actually, in ten minutes." The twins said standing next to me. "And you have to use your acting skills today."

They threw me a Southern Belle costume. "This...this is ridiculous."

"Yup! But this helps keep Haruhi's secret of being a girl. Since we can stop dressing her in girl's clothes. Now go change!" The twins dragged me to the back room and opened the door. "And if you need any help, just let me or Kaoru know. ;]"

"No, thanks." I shut the door on the twins and started changing into the poofy dress. It was green, slightly lighter than the color of my eyes. The twins probably got their mom to make the dress in that color.

I came out of the dressing room and got a thumbs up. I stuck my tonue out.

"You guys need a less cliche idea. Try some music theme. Or art. Art personified."

Kyoya wrote everything I said down.

"You're already contributing!" Tamaki said proudly and patting my head. I looked at him. "So I'm doing YOUR job, right?"

The twins burst out laughing and Tamaki went off to sulk in the corner of the room. What a crybaby.

I cleared my throat. "So, what exactly am I doing today?" I asked, hoping someone in the Host Club actually had an idea.

"We are performing... a mini play!" Tamaki said with usual overexaggerated enthusiasm.

"A skit? Alright. What're my lines? Or what do I have to do?" Tamaki just looked at me with a blank stare. I raised an eyebrown. "There is...a script, right?"

"Hanae-chan, lesson one of learning about Tamaki-senpai!" The twins said simultaneously. "Besides him being an idiot of course," Hikaru said.

"Our king doesn't plan very far ahead. In fact, most things he plans go horribly wrong, so we discourage it. But it's not like he really told us this until 2 am in the morning..." The twins glared at the "king" probably for waking them up via cell phone.

"Hmmm. So he can't even write a short script for a skit. How pathetic," I yawned. Tamaki went off and cried some more.

"You don't have to be so mean..." He muttered between sobs.

"I call it as I see it." I paused a minute. "So this is all improv then? _That _I can do." I said with a grin.

A lightbulb basically lit up above the twins' heads. "Oh! King, what if Hanae-chan writes some stuff for us to use! She wrote this play once!" Kaoru said.  
>"Yeah! It was a modern take on the three musketeers... And it was brilliant! Of course, Kaoru and I were the two lead musketeers, so that did play a role in it's greatness..." Hikaru said with a cocky grin.<p>

"Hanea~chan! We have to get ready to greet guests!" Hunny pulled me off, and I realized he had changed into a cowboy costume. He was...SO CUTE.

-*opening time!*-

Hunny and I sat across from the door and ate delicious cake and drank a sweet orange blossom tea. I was hoping I would do alright, but I shouldn't have any problems as long as I keep up my poker face.

But with how ridiculous this Host Club was... I wasn't sure I could handle everything these people threw at me.

The white doors opened, allowing four girls to walk in. They all noticed me and Hunny sitting and enjoying ourselves and they immediately came to chat.

"Hanaemori-sama! You visit the Host Club? Wow, that means the Host Club has got to be amazing!" The girls asked me a few questions such as my favorite host and everything. Then Kyouya came over and smiled to the girls and led them away by his charm. Hunny received a request, so he went off to go eat cake with some other people.

I wasn't sure when this skit was going to take place but Kyouya came over and spoke to me.

"Excellent job Hanaemori. More and more customers have noticed you being here, so you're free to wander around instead of sitting here, if you wish." I looked at him and nodded and waited for him to leave.

I stood up and watched how the boys and Haruhi-chan acted. They were all so personable with all of these girls. It was strange. Tamaki was his usual princely self as I walked by.

"Hanaemori-chan! Why don't you join the rest of the princesses and sit here and chat with us?" he said. I couldn't be mean, and I saw Kyouya look over to make sure I knew that.

"No, thank you Tamaki. I believe I will go familiarize myself with this place a bit more and maybe observe the beautiful day from that lovely window that's open. But thank you." I smiled and he looked at me and smiled back, kind of shocked I didn't just say "no" and move on. Several of the girls around him started talking excitedly and looked toward my direction. I hoped I didn't start getting requests...

I walked around, observing everyone's different personality traits they had while "working". Hunny was the cute lolita child that all the girls doted over, and Mori was the strong silent type. No surprise there.

Haruhi was pretending to be a boy and just acted very kind and sensitive toward the girls which labeled..erm, him, as a girly guy. No comment on that one.

Kyoya was very kind toward the girls and not scary at all, which just reminded me of the use of acting everywhere. Oh dear...

And then I stumbled upon the twins. They were acting brotherly. But even more so than usual. Like disturbingly so. AND girls were falling for it. Hikaru and Kaoru were pretty dirty minded, since they are teenage boys and are, so they made plenty of references to sleeping together and taking off each others' clothes and whatnot... This deeply disturbed me, but yet it made total sense at the same time, so I tried not to laugh.

"Hanae-chan! We have some pretty girls who want to meet you!" The twins unfortunately saw me and dragged me over. I smiled and greeted them kindly.

"Hanaemori-chan! So you've known the twins a long time? How lucky!" One of the girls said. Lucky?

"I consider myself very grateful for their friendship. And I hope it will continue to be a long and prosperous one."

The girls started asking a lot of questions, but the twins eventually had to cut in as I was stealing their attention time. I was kind of thankful, since I really didn't want too much attention. I excused myself and allowed myself to sit down at the table right next to the window. It was nice outside, and not a cloud in the sky. The window's location provided an excellent view to see the garden, and I looked at the pretty flowers that were sitting so far away. I could almost smell the orchids, the tulips, the roses... just every single one made me smile.

Then I saw something flutter by me. A single butterfly, a blue one, landed on my hand to take a rest. It was pretty, and I slowly raised my hand closer to my face to observe the creature more closely.

I heard a click and the butterfly fluttered away and out the window. Everyone was standing there, looking at me. The twins held a camera and everyone clapped.

I looked at them blankly, not sure what was going on.

Tamaki, as always, was the first to speak. "What a graceful display of beauty and nature!" He came closer. "That was such an inspirational moment! The butterfly trusting you enough to allow itself to become vulnerable and bear it's brightest colors to you!"

Were they really applauding because a butterfly landed on my hand?

"Um...?" I said.

"Hanae-chan has always had a way with animals!" Kaoru said.  
>"Even when we first met her. She never had an problems with any sort of creature." Hikaru continued to keep amazing the crowd.<p>

Then Hunny came over and sat on my lap. "It's because Hanae~chan has a really pure heart!" He said aloud. "Isn't that right Mori-kun?" Mori nodded and I felt weird being the center of attention.

Tamaki cleared his throat. "Excuse the interruption everyone, but the skit for the day will be held in 15 minutes!" All the girls started dispersing to the chairs that had mysteriously been set up while I hadn't noticed. Along with a stage.

Hunny looked at me. "Wahhh, Hanae-chan, that was really cute with the butterfly! I wanna have butterfly friends! :D" And he jumped off of my lap and went toward the stage.

This club was confusing. I looked out the window for a bit and I saw the butterfly resting on a morning glory, making it seem even blue-r than it was.

"Hanae-chan, we have to go get ready/" Kaoru said. I just looked out the window and smiled. Bye little butterfly! Have a good trip! I said in my head.

"Oi. Hanae-chan." Hikaru said. He looked out the window too. "I don't see anything..." He stopped looking out the window and he looked at me. "We have to go get ready for the skit." He grabbed my hand and led me away from the window. Bye little butterfly.

-*ready for the skit...backstage!*-

The curtains were closed on the stage and the twins pushed me forward. Tamaki was clad in his cowboy outfit, which of course, was white.

He smiled at me. "This should be a lot of fun!"

"If you don't mess up." I said without a smile. He gave me a sad frown but then straightened up.

"Don't have stage fright Hanae-chan!" He said.

"I'm fine. Are you ready for all of these people to be judging this? It WILL effect the customers' opinions of the Host Club, you know." Tamaki's face drained of color and he tried laughing it off.

"O-oh. Well, Hanaemori-chan... let's get ready for this play. The Dastardly Duo is going to kidnap you, and I am the hero of the story. So...yeah. Improv!"

I had to stand over by the side of the curtains for a quick entrance, but so the audience couldnt see me yet.

The light shone on Tamaki who definitely hammed this up.

"Oh fair damsel, where are you? I long to see your elegant face,"he said trying to act like such a lovelorn hero.

I walked onstage slowly. "Here I am, my love, waiting for you to take me away from this place." I added in a Southern Belle accent, hoping to make this seem like we actually practiced.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" The twins rushed in and pulled me offstage.

"Oh no! My fair maiden! I must save her from the Dastardly Duo!" Tamaki said with some serious acting flair. Maybe he could act?

Then the scene changed and a back drop came out of nowhere, showing a saloon, where Kyoya was a bartender and Hunny was sitting down drinking a glass of water.

"I need help finding the Dastardly Duo! They stole my love from me!"

Hunny turned around really epically... And there...on his face...Was a giant mustache. The twins and I were shaking with held in laughter and tried really hard not to collapse from the aching we had in our abdomens.

"I can help youuuu find 'emmmm." Hunny spoke with a southern drawl that almost killed me from making me hold in a ridiculous amount of laughter.

The scene changed to the outdoors, and Mori was in a horse costume... And carried Hunny and Tamaki on his back. Needless to say, Kaoru, Hikaru, and I were going to explode. Tears were in our eyes and we struggled to stay standing.

The scene changes again... and before the lights turn on, Kaoru and Hikaru tie me up to a set of train tracks.

Tamaki is riding the horse to come and save me, when all of a sudden, I hear a machine noise and feel the tracks shake slightly.I look to my right, and there is a small amusement park train ride heading straight for me. And Haruhi was the conductor.

I was about to seriously freak out when Tamaki and Hunny "shot" the twins and hurriedly untied me and got me out of harm's way in the nick of time.

Tamaki held me close and I prepared myself to act really corny.

"Are you alright my fair lady?" I asked me.

I made my eyes turn watery. "I-Yes, I think so. It was such a fright...But how can I ever repay you?"

"I would enjoy nothing more than a mere kiss from your lips." UGH. GROSS. But I sucked in my pride and got ready for the classic stage kiss.

And then a sandbag fell on Tamaki's head and I burst out laughing as the curtains closed.

"I have no idea if that was an accident, but brava!" I wiped the tears away from my eyes.

Then I heard clapping. "Oh, the audience..." I forgot about them. The play was really bad... They would have to be laughing for us to receive any applause.

Hikaru and Kaoru went on each side of me and grabbed my hands as everyone got into a line and bowed once the curtains opened.

And then they yanked me offstage and did not look happy.

"What?" I said, unsure of what I had done.

"The Southern Belle kisses the Sheriff? How cliche." Kaoru sighed. "I would have expected better from the great Hanaemori-chan. But it is the classic ending..."

"Kaoru, don't you think it was lame? Wayyy too overdone?"

"Like you two have any right to judge acting. Twincest? Are you two from some best selling manga or something?"

"Pffffft, it makes the girls go wild. And your performance stunk up the place." Hikaru said.

"And **you're** just mad I was about to kiss Tamaki-senpai."

"Now why would I care if you kissed-" And with that, I kissed him and walked away.

-**Hikaru**-

I had no idea how to react.

"Hikaru! That was almost like a scene from a movie or something." I wasn't really paying attention. I raised my fingers to my lips to make sure that really happened. "Hikaru?" My brother said.

"You're all red!" He shouted in astonishment.

"No, no, I'm not!" I said defensively.

"Yes you are! And whyyyy did you make that sandbag fall on Tamaki-senpai?"

"It was more exciting than a boring old kiss for the sheriff."

"Brother, how dumb do you think I am? You still like Hanae-chan, don't cha?" He smiled. "You were **jealous** of Tamaki getting a kiss from her, and that you wouldn't! Ah, just look! A single meaningless kiss from her and you're rendered speechless."

To me the kiss wasn't meaningless. It meant a lot. But I couldn't even tell Kaoru that. "Shut up." I said, hoping he would stay off the subject.

-**Hanae-chan**-

Haruhi-chan ran up to me after that whole showdown with the twins. "Hanaemori-chan, what went on there?"

"Hikaru was acting like an idiot-"

"No, that whole kiss thing." I stopped to talk to her.

"I had to prove to him that he can't control what I do. So, I kissed him. It caught him off guard."

"But if you REALLY wanted to catch him off guard, why wouldn't you have kissed Kaoru?" I wasn't sure what to say to that. "Are you SURE you were proving a point? Or were you just doing what Hikaru does and throw your feelings at him?"

I... Well, I was proving a point." I left Haruhi to go to the backroom to change into better clothes.

I started to change when the door opened.

"HEY!" I yelled.

"Wah! Sorry Hanae-chan!" Kaoru shut the door.

"What do you want?" I asked as I was changing, knowing he'd be 30 shades of red and too embarrassed to come back in.

"Well, I was hoping to talk to you."

"Sure, let me finish changing and I'll talk to you after. You wanna go to the ice cream place near here?"

"Alright."

I finished changing into my clothes, which consisted of blue shorts and a black t-shirt. I put on my rollerblades and rolled out the door. I had my ipod blaring the song Shissou on repeat, since it WAS my favorite song in the world. :)

Kaoru was waiting for me, and there was no Hikaru in sight. Kaoru was dressed in jeans and a white graphic tee. "Hanae-chan, what's with the rollerblades?"

"Oh. I rollerblade home." He stared in shock.

"Why would you do that! Doesn't that take forever?"

"Naw, most of the way is downhill, so I just have to watch where I'm going, plus it's great exercise. It's like the house is that far either. Like...8 miles away from Ouran? Yeah, about 8." I said.

He stared at me as if I was the world's craziest person. "Why don't you have your driver take you? It must be much faster!"

I couldn't tell Kaoru, but I haven't had a driver in years. "Ah, it's more fun this way. Everything's so pretty in the early morning." I said with a smile on my face.

*ten minutes later*

After a ton of small talk, we were close to the ice cream place. Kaoru walked beside me as I rolled on the sidewalk. And then I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. Kaoru caught me from completely face planting, and then helped me up.

"Are you okay Hanae-chan?" He asked worryingly.

"I'm fine, haha. Nothing a bandaid can't fix." I said. Then I looked at my rollerblades. One of the wheels came off and I had no idea where it was. O^O My method of transportation...

"Hanae-chan?" He saw me looking at the now demolished rollerblades.

"Oh, that sucks! Do you need to call your driver to come pick you up after we get ice cream?" I couldn't walk home at this point. It was getting dark and I get lost way easier in the dark. TnT

And this whole "lying to my one of my two best friends" thing wasn't making me feel so great.

"Hanae-chan?" he asked. I sighed.

"Kaoru-kun...I don't have a driver."

"No driver? That's weird. Can you call one of your maids or-"

"It's not just that. I don't have maids. Or servants. Or cooks. Or drivers. Or anything."

Kaoru looked at me in utter disbelief. "How does that work? You go to Ouran..."

"My situation is different than any of the students at Ouran. I don't get to see any of my inheritance until I am 18. My aunt keeps it that way...so she can probably spend it all before I can actually see any of it. She pays for Ouran and keeps an account there for my lunch and any other required spending, but otherwise, nothing."

"YOU'RE POOR!" He yelled. "POOR HANAE-CHAN!" he started hugging me and basically crying. "HOW DO YOU LIVE?"

"Um..." I said, trying to pry his lethal hug skills off of me. "I have to find ways to make money."

He looked at me with a strange expression on his face. "...Doing what." O.o

"No-nothing like that! I babysit families who don't use nannies. Well the kids at least. Back in New York I modeled, but my aunt took most of that money for herself, so for me it didn't pay much."

"But why did you keep this from us? Haruhi-chan is poor, but we don't care."

"Because I don't want the whole world giving me a pity party. Especially you and Hikaru. :P"

"I swear, you and Haruhi are so similar with your stubbornness for help sometimes. :P"

"I've always been that way and you know that. I'd rather you didn't tell anyone."

"Well, one one condition."

"Huh?"

"You're getting rides to and from school everyday with me and Hikaru! X3"

"...Kaoru-"

"Noooo buts. That's the deal. We'll just say your driver is out sick and you can't get a replacement driver. Because you are going to have to tell everyone else you know."

"I hate it that you make so much sense sometimes." I said pouting. "Fineeee. I accept this deal thingy." We shook hands and he smiled a cattish grin.

I had to change into shoes and then we finally decided to order ice cream at the stand that stood tall on an intersection corner. I looked at the menu and tried to think of how much money I had to spend. As I was about to pull out the money so I could order, Kaoru stopped me.

"I'm buying you the ice cream."

"What? Kaoru, no."

"I'm paying!" He said with a smile and went ahead and ordered and flashed his credit card to pay. Then the vendor appeared again and handed Kaoru a giant ice cream sundae...with all the toppings. -_-'

"Make sure you eat the strawberry ice cream. I only like the chocolate and vanilla." he said with a grin as we sat down.

"Really? I like all three flavors, so I'm fine with that." The ice cream was good. Really good. And we smiled at one another.

"What's it like not having everything you used to?" he asked.

I thought for a moment, making sure I could actually answer the way I wanted to. "At first, it was horrible. I knew nothing about cooking or cleaning. But now I learned to be even more independent. I don't expect anything from anyone. It's hard, but I deal with it. I found out I really like to cook...and I'm still bad at organizing anything. It's nice knowing that once I turn 18 I can break off from my aunt and be ok. That I won't have to depend on her. With the way she's spending, the rest of 'my' estate will be gone before graduation."

Kaoru looked at me and smiled. "When did you grow up so much?" he said with a smile. We both laughed a little and it was nice hanging out, just the two of us. Then I realized that we had totally ignored Kaoru's whole reason for hanging out with me.

-**Kaoru**-

Usually, if I wasn't near Hikaru, I wouldn't have any fun. But Hanaemori-chan really did make today fun. We were laughing and smiling and it was nice.

"Kaoru, what did you want to talk to me about anyway?" The whole feeling of happiness dampened, making me think of why I had to talk to her. It was serious, and I'm not sure if she would really answer me anyway. She was just like Hikaru...and I knew she wouldn't want to talk about him.

-**Hanaemori**-

Kaoru looked doubtful. He was having issues on how to start the subject.  
>I could hear some girls talk about him a few tables over. They were clearly interested in Kaoru. I glanced over when they weren't paying attention. They were really cute. "Kaoru, why don't you talk to them?" I said. The twins really should start dating people. They needed to show some independence from one another.<p>

He glanced over and saw them. "Eh. They're ok looking."

"Ok? They're just your type, I swear." I said.

"I guess you really don't know me that well at all. I like girls who are a bit more mature than just attention grabbing girls that keep bugging you for more things."

"When did **you** grow up?" I asked in astonishment.

He smiled a little. "I know what you're thinking. That my brother and I are going to have to start being more independent of one another, right? So we should date people to open up more and allow us to be separate from one another for once, am I right?"

"You always could read my mind. That's one reason that differs between you and Hikaru. I really don't think he notices a thing about other people."

-**Kaoru**-

That's right... I have to talk about Hikaru, but in a subtle way so she isn't suspicious.

I sighed. "He does have some problems with noticing certain things about people... He has no clue when it comes to emotions or body language of another person...But he does care. And he's very kind to others."

"He is. I'm definitely not saying he isn't. He always makes sure to apologize when he doesn't understand something about someone... but I think he does need to grow a little bit more in maturity." I took this conversation as an opportunity to see how she feels about Hikaru.

The girls a few tables away from us were questioning whether Hanae-chan was my girlfriend or not. I grinned to myself, thinking how much fun this whole opportunity presented. But I really shouldn't use Hanaemori for fun. :I

She looked over at them, since they became a little louder now. It was starting to get obnoxious.

"What about you Hanae-chan? What kind of person is your type?" She looked caught off guard by the question.

"I don't know. I just want someone who cares. Someone to make me laugh when I'm sad." She smiled. "People are all different. No matter how similar two people are, they will never be the same. Like you and Hikaru. Your general personalities are the same, but once you start picking out certain things, you can see it as clear as day."

"So that's how you knew... We always did wonder how you could tell us apart."

"I can pick apart peoples' personalities really easily. You can't always trust everyone, and my ability helps me figure out who to trust."

"I remember back in middle school, you were just as cold to others as we were." She laughed.

"I was still new to figuring out everything then... But I did learn a lot since then. America is a tough place, not at all like here. So many more people try to use you for their own benefit. I fell for some of that unfortunately." She frowned. "What is it you needed to talk to me about Kaoru? We keep getting off topic."

"I was hoping to get a little serious here. That whole episode with Hikaru today... I'm getting worried. He's becoming more and more upset with things, especially those concerning you..."

"He's probably still sensitive to me coming back."

"True, but you know how he is with his emotions. He doesn't express them too well. If you could just talk to him one day. One on one. Hang out like we are right now, just something so he could become more independent and not have to rely on me as much. I want to help him, but I don't think I can or should." She looked at me with concern and smiled.

She put her hand on top of mine for comfort, but I still felt funny. "I'll try and help as much as I can. And I'll try not to argue with him as much either."

Bokura No Love Style started playing on my phone. "It's Hikaru, probably wondering where I am." I pulled my hand away and picked up my cell phone. "I'm sorry brother! I should've told you! I thought you were staying late for tutoring anyway!" Hikaru was worried and wasn't happy that he didn't know where I was. Then he told me what time it was. "It's that late already? Ok, the driver's almost there? Alright, well we're at the ice cream place right on- yup that's the one. And yeah I'm with Hanae-chan. We're gonna drop her off and pick her up everyday now! Her driver got sick and she can't get a replacement one for a while. Yup."

Hikaru sounded shocked that Hanae-chan was with me, but not necessarily upset. He was probably jealous that she and I were hanging out.

-**Hanaechan**-

Kaoru hung up with Hikaru and asked me for my address so he could text it to Hikaru to tell the driver.

"They're on their way." We ended up finishing the whole sundae, which made me feel kinda gross from eating so much in one sitting.

Kaoru and I stood over by the road and we made small talk once again. The limo finally pulled up and Kaoru opened the door for me to get in. I sat across from Hikaru and Kaoru got in and sat next to him.

Hikaru didn't say a word once again. So I decided to see if this whole hanging out thing would work.

"Would you like to do something tomorrow?" I said aloud. "Maybe go into town or something?

"Haruhi-chan did tell me about a festival they're having near her house. Everyone dresses in kimonos and there's tons of games and food. It's to celebrate the cherry blossoms or something."

I smiled. "Wow, that sounds so neat! What do you think Hikaru?" I asked, hoping to get him to speak.

"Uh? It sounds different, kind of cool."

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see what the festivals Haruhi-chan goes to are like." Kaoru said.

"I wonder if Tamaki and everyone else is planning to go." At that exact moment, Hikaru's phone rang. I could hear Tamaki screaming about a chance to get to know Haruhi better and to see how commoners celebrate things and all that jazz.

Once Hikaru hung up, we all laughed.

"Oh I heard Haruhi say we have to bring small money with us." Kaoru said.

"Like 20,000 bills?" Hikaru asked, truly puzzled.

"No, she said like 100 yen bills! Do they even make anything that cheap?"Kaoru said in disbelief.

"That's about a dollar in US... I remember places called 'dollar stores' where they had things for super cheap! Food, clothes, a lot of things. It was weird to see that!" I told them. They both went wide eyed, as if I told them a scary story.

The limo stopped in front of the gates to my residence.

"See you tomorrow!"

-**Kaoru**-

I have to remember to ask Mom to make Hanaemori-chan a kimono for tomorrow's festival.

-***next day: Host Club* Haruhi**-

"HARUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Tamaki came running up to me going on and on about a festival. The festival he apparently overheard me talking to Kaoru about. _ Great.

"Senpai, I don't have a kimono-"

"Hey everyone!" The twins walked in, cheerful as usual. "We have kimonos for each of you!" The duo passed out kimonos for each of us, handing me a girl's kimono. Then they gave Hanaemori-chan her kimono too and pushed us away to change in the backroom.

"Pushy, aren't they?" She said, kind of annoyed. Her kimono is a deep shade of purple with butterflies and blossoms as the decoration on it. The butterflies were outlined with gold and silver, making her really shine.

"Haruhi-chan, do you need help with your kimono?" I nodded, seeing as how she got her kimono ready to go relatively quickly. "It's really pretty!" She exclaimed. "The color is perfect too. And the shading of the cherry blossoms on here gives it a lot of depth. Like a painting on cloth." She was really fascinated about my kimono. I noticed she really had a love of all things colorful. An eye for art.

She helped me tie the obi (sash for the kimono) perfectly and we looked in the mirror. We could have been sisters if it wasn't for the eye color and height difference. She's nearly as tall as the twins.

"Haruhi-chan, can I do your makeup? Just a tiny bit?" She asked.

"I don't have-"

"I have some. I think I have a light pink with me that will do wonders with this ensemble."

She sat me down and she took out some eye makeup. It really wasn't much and took only a minute for her to do. "There." She smiled and put a little light purple eyeshadow on her eyes as well. It was weird having another girl to hang out with this often.

We stepped outside of the dressing room and the boys clapped. Tamaki was crying tears of joy. "Haruhiiii! You're so cute!" After getting several compliments on the kimono, I saw Hanaemori was looking out the window again. No one saw it this time, but one butterfly landed on her right shoulder, and another one fluttered around her.

-***at the festival*Kaoru**-

"Woahhhhhhhh." Everyone said except for were stands of goods everywhere. I took this as a good opportunity for Hanae-chan and Hikaru to hang out together.

"There's a lot of stuff here, so we should split off in pairs!" Hunny and Mori were together, and while Hikaru came to join me, I shook my head. "No, Hikaru, why don't you go with Hanae-chan? I want to go with Haruhi, so she can explain everything to me." Hikaru gave me a little frown and I felt bad, but I knew this was for his own good.

"Kaoru! Who makes you boss! I wanted to be with Haruhi!" Tamaki said.

"No thanks, I'd rather team up with Kaoru." Haruhi said. Kyoya and Tamaki had to team up, and Hikaru and Hanae-chan stood together. I could tell she wasn't sure how to break the ice with him, so I decided I would have to help them.

We each split up. "Kaoru, what are you doing?" Haruhi asked me.

"I have to make sure Hanae-chan and Hikaru stop being so awkward! They need to treat this like a date!" I whispered.

"Huh? Why? Shouldn't they do that on their own? Like you said before?"

"No, I just said that so Tamaki wouldn't make a farce out of the whole deal."

Mission: Make Hikaru and Hanaemori become more than friends...Initiated!

-**Hanaemori**-

"Hikaru, what would you like to do first?" I asked, hoping I could get him to open up.

"Um... I dunno. Do you wanna look around first to see what they have?"

We started walking around and I decided this would be a good time for small talk.

"We haven't really hung out much, have we Hikaru?" I said.

"Hm? No, we haven't. But you did hang out with Kaoru yesterday." He said that last part with a little bit of spite.

"Only 'cause he asked me to. He was concerned about you. And that worried me." I said while looking around at the colorful stands.

"Why?" He said, kind of shocked to hear that.

"Kaoru was worried that you and I weren't going to be real friends anymore. He thought we were becoming distant. And... that really upset me." We both stopped walking and looked at each other.

"It...it did?"

"I want us to be close friends again like we were. I mean, I know the whole me coming back thing wasn't the easiest, and that even though we are friends again, we haven't been acting like it. We've argued a lot, which I don't think is good." He looked at me, not sure of what to say.

And then he finally spoke. "You know what? Let's make today our day, just for you and me." He said with a cat-like smile.

I smiled back at him and I grabbed his hand. "Let's go do something then!" I said. We ran along through the stands and laughed and joked around.

-**Kaoru**-

Things are working! I gave Haruhi money to eat, and she went off trying all the foods as I watched Hikaru and Hanae-chan make progress. He still wasn't sure how to act though, and he let Hanae-chan basically escort him around. I need him to be confident enough to escort her.

-**Hanae-chan**-

We stopped at a stand where you catch fish with paper catcher things. "Hikaru-kun, wanna try this?" We watched some people attempt to catch fish and we got the idea of it.

The guy running the booth looked at us and smiled. "Good luck to the young couple!" Both Hikaru and I blushed 100 shades of red and looked at each other. The vendor continued. "First try is free for the little lady!" Hikaru paid for himself and I thanked the vendor, who seemed very happy he got a thank you.

Each of us bent down to try and catch a fish. Hikaru caught one, but then the paper broke, so the little fish swam away. I tried and I caught one! :D Hikaru was sad he lost at a commoner's game, but he clapped when I got it!

"Wow! I got one! :D" The goldfish was perfect too. Perfectly orange scales were organized along his body and he had a flowy tail. Hikaru was still kind of upset he lost to the game, and I knew he wanted to try again. So he did, over and over. Then I came to help him.

"Here, you have to look at the fish, and predict their movements..." I guided his hand with my own for him to see. "Then you catch it!" Hikaru caught it and smiled...but this fish was a fighter, and jumped off. The guy felt bad and tried catching him for us, but Hikaru said it was ok. And that he didn't need one.

"That was really grown up of you Hikaru-kun."

"Well, I just wanted to see if I could catch one. Thanks to your help, I did." He gave me a big smile and I blushed a little. I really did like Hikaru's company...

"Hikaru, I want you to have this fish." I handed him the goldfish bag, and he took it out of surprise.

"You won it, I shouldn't-"

"Nope, I want you to have it. I want him to be a symbol of the day we had together. And I think you should have a fish, seeing as how the last one went kamikaze." We both laughed and he held up the fish so he could see it. The gold scales sparkled from the light emitted from the paper lanterns around us. I could tell he was fascinated by it.

-**Kaoru**-

The plan is working beautifully! I'm so proud of Hikaru! They're having a fun time, but he still isn't leading the date yet... He's probably not comfortable yet.

-**Hikaru**-

Hanae-chan and I were having a great time. We ate several snacks and we both got animal masks that a lot of people wear. It was a blast being able to hang out with her. I saw her stare at something as we were walking.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing." She said, stubborn as ever.

"Tell me! Is it that stand there?" I said pointing to a stand where people where trying to knock down stacks of bottles.

I saw a cat plushy with stripes, and I knew how much she likes cats. I took her hand and led her over to the stand.

"Hanae~chan! Hika~kun!" Hunny was one his way over with Mori.

"Brother!" Kaoru was running over and we hugged, as we always do. Hanae-chan and Haruhi-chan were talking about something when I heard Tamaki yell "Haruhiiii~" in loving adoration of his "daughter".

Everyone was here at this stand.

"What are we all doing here?" Haruhi asked.

"Hanae-chan likes that striped cat plushy up there, so I'm gonna win it for her." I said.

-**Kaoru**-

Here we go! I just wanted to hug Kaoru and to tell him how happy and proud I was.

"I would like to see if I could win at this game!" Tamaki said. Ohhh no. Competition. "Maybe I could win the striped cat for Hanae-chan, so she'll be a little nicer to me!" He said. She raised an eyebrow, knowing that could never happen.

"Wahh~ It's so cute! I want Hanae-chan to get it!" Hunny said. Mori took this as a command to win it for her, so he joined in too.

I might as well play along. "Let's see who is better at this game. Me or Hikaru?" I said with a smile. "Maybe I can win the plushy." Hikaru was annoyed now, but it kept his goal in mind. We all paid and the vendor gave us each a few baseballs to hit the bottles with.

*ten minutes later*

NONE OF US COULD KNOCK THEM DOWN.

I think they were filled with cement. I'm not sure. But I think so.

We were all out of breath when the vendor said "Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Hunny was jumping up and down and smiling. He received the giant striped cat plushy from the vendor and handed it to Hanae-chan with a smile.

"Here Hanae-chan! Now you can have a friend just like Usa-chan! :D" Hunny smiled and laughed. "We can all eat cake and drink tea together! Won't that be nice? :D" Hanae-chan smiled and I saw Hikaru wasn't upset at all. Actually he was smiling! My brother is growing up!

:D

-**Hikaru**-

I was glad Hanae-chan got the plushy, even if I didn't win it for her.

"You know, the fireworks are gonna start soon," Haruhi said.

"Fireworks?" Kaoru and I said at the same time. Since when were there fireworks?

-**Hanae-chan**-

I held onto the striped cat plushy and Hunny pushed me toward Hikaru. "I'm going with Mori to go get some sweets, so don't get separated from your buddy!" Hikaru and I were really close and I blushed a little and stepped away. That was awkward.

"Hanae-chan, do you wanna go find a good spot for the fireworks now?" Hikaru asked me.

"Sure, why not?" Hikaru and I started walking toward the hills, where a lot of people were going. Hikaru started looking around. "Where's Kaoru?" I looked around too, wondering where the other brother could have gone.

Hikaru's cell phone rang and he picked up. I figured it was Kaoru. After a few seconds, he hung up.

"He's going to get food with Haruhi for the fireworks. He said they'll find us before the fireworks and to go ahead." We continued walking up the ridiculous hill.

"Kaoru's been acting weird lately." I said.

"I've noticed that too. He's hiding something I think."

"I think he is too. He keeps going off topic whenever we talk. It gets confusing."

Hikaru paused a little. "Ok, this hill, is ridiculous."

"This is insannnneeeeeeeeee. UGH." I said. I plopped down. "I'm done. I am walking no further." Hikaru did the same and we sighed.

"When's the last time we just hung out?" Hikaru said out of nowhere.

"I have no idea actually. But I think we should fix that and hang out more."

"Haha, definitely. It's weird with you being back, but we have a lot of catching up to do."

I just looked at Hikaru and smiled. It was nice to know that I had him and Kaoru as my friends.

"When are the fireworks supposed to start?" he said, probably hoping Kaoru would be back soon.

"Probably as soon as the sky darkens a little bit more. I just hope Kaoru and Haruhi get back with food soon." My stomach growled and we laughed.

-**Hikaru**-

I wasn't really sure what was going on. We were just hanging out, right?

Then why was I so nervous around her?

-**Kaoru**-

I was intentionally taking my time to get back, hoping Hikaru and Hanae-chan would bond.

Haruhi was now starting to take an interest too and kept asking me questions about the two.

"They really do need to get together!" She exclaimed kinda loudly.

"I know, but Hikaru... He's kind of dense when it comes to other people... Or his own emotions. He's probably wondering what this whole feeling is. He's been staring out of windows more and more lately and has just been out of it since she came back."

My phone started ringing. I only have two people that have the default ringtone on my phone... My parents. And dear old dad barely called since he was always on the phone and hated using it otherwise.I put down the food in a hurry and picked up.

"Mom?" I said into the small phone, hoping she didn't hang up.

"Finally, Kaoru. I was just about to call your brother, but you know how he never picks up."

"Yeah, I know." I could tell she had something really important to say. "Mom?" I said, wondering if she dazed off in the middle of our conversation.

"Kaoru, you know how I hate to get annoyed with you two... But, may I ask you why no one informed me Hanaemori Arrington was back in Japan?"

Uh-oh... She likes to be on top of most things at school, but I knew Hanae-chan was kind of a big deal...

"Um, well Hikaru and I have been really busy and-"

"Nooooooo excuse Kaoru!" She said in a scolding manner. "Make sure to invite her to dinner! And be nice! She's been through a lot and I know how you and your brother like to prank people." XP

"I'll make sure. Do you want her to phone you later?"

"If she's available now, I would like to speak with her and personally invite her."

"She's with Hikaru-"

"You left her with your brother! You know her sense of direction is horrible! And that he'll probably lose her! Kaoru, you're supposed to be the more responsible one!"

"Don't worry, she can't possibly be lost. They're trying to find a place for all of us...hello?" Mom already hung up, and I knew she was worried.

-**Hikaru**-

My phone started ringing with the default ringtone, and I knew that it had to be Mom since Dad didn't call us often. I picked up the phone and spoke. "Hey mom."

"Well hello Hikaru... Could you please do me a favor and make sure Hanaemori is still there next to you and not possibly lost?" I looked and she wasn't there.

"Mom, she isn't here- WAIT. WHERE'D SHE GO." How could she disappear in like 3 seconds!

I looked around frantically but I didn't see any trace of her.

"Hikaru, honey... Could you please go find her before I get mad? Please? I need to speak with her!"

"Y-yeah, I can find her. I'll call you back real quick, ok? Bye!" I quickly hung up and looked around.

Kaoru and Haruhi was coming up the hill. "Hikaru, where's-"

"SHE'S GONE OFF SOMEWHERE AND MOM JUST CALLED AND SHE'S LOST SOMEWHERE." I said freaking out.

"But she was just here! How is that possible?" Kaoru said. "Haruhi, stay here with the food, and noooo eating it. If she comes back, text us."

"Mkay, but where could she have gone?"

"Anywhere." Both Kaoru and I said with grimaces on our faces.

-**Hanaemori**-

I really have to stay put more. I just wanted to see where the food was...and I got lost.

I was back by the fish game stand, and looked around. If I could get back to the stand where we won Neko-chan (Hunny named it for me :3 ), then I should be fine.

But which way was that?

-**Kaoru**-

Hikaru and I decided it would be best to split up and text each other when one of us finds her.

I went by the food stands, hoping she would be enticed by the smell of food. Hikaru went over to the novelties and games stands, and we knew we had five minutes tops before Mom called back. O_o

-**Hanaechan**-

I saw a sign advertising Takoyaki, and they smelled really good so I just had to get a few for everyone.

I ordered 40 so each of us could have 5, and I watched them cook the little octopus dumplings. It was so neat how they flipped them perfectly so they cooked through just enough!

They handed me a bag full of takoyaki and I paid the cooks and gave them a little tip. They smiled and waved to me as I left.

-**Kaoru**-

I saw her! She was waving to the vendors of what looked like a takoyaki stand, and she walked through a crowd of people and I lost her. D= NOOOOOOOOO.

-**Hikaru**-

I was looking around, hoping I would see her soon. I saw her walking towards the fish game stand we were at! YES! I started running toward her and a group of people blocked my way. I finally made my way through the crowd and she was gone. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

-**Hanaechan**-

I walked around, not even seeing a glimpse of anyone from the Host Club.

"Hanaechan~" I knew Hunny's voice anywhere. I turned around and Hunny was sitting on Mori's shoulders.

"Hunny-sama! Do you know how to get to the really big hill?" I asked. "I smelled some takoyaki and went to grab some and I don't know how to get back." -w-'

"Mori can take us there real fast! Mori-kun, do you see anyone from the club on the hill?" Mori has super power vision?

He nodded and said, "Haruhi." under his breath.

"Mori-kun, can you take us there really fast? We need to make sure we get there for the fireworks!" Mori nodded and picked me up.

And he started running. I think I was going to die.

-**Hikaru-**

I saw Kaoru and ran up to him.

"I can't find her!" he said.

"Me neither!" We were both exasperated. Then my phone rang.

THE DEFAULT RINGTONE.

It was Mom! Kaoru and I both freaked out when Kaoru got a text.

It was from Haruhi!

"She's here with Mori and Hunny-senpai. ~Haruhi"

:D yay!

We both high fived and ran as fast as we could to the hill.

*2.5 minutes later*

"Kao-kun and Hika-kun!" Hunny said. "You guys are late! Tama-kun and Kyo-kun got here right after we did!"

The phone rang again and we started freaking out. We looked at Hanae-chan and threw it at her.

"IT'S FOR YOU!" We yelled, hoping Mom wouldn't scream too much.

-**Hanaechan**-

I looked at the phone and picked up. "Hello?" I said, wondering why the twins were so freaked out.

"Why hello Hanaemori!" It was ! :D

"Hello! It's been a while since we've spoken!" Mrs. Hitachiin! :D

"Yes it has, far too long. My sons never told me you returned to Ouran. I was very disappointed they forgot to tell me."

"Oh, don't be disappointed in them! They've been busy lately with my return and school and all." I covered for the twins, who looked at me gratefully.

"Hmm, maybe I won't be too disappointed in them... Have they treated you well? Did they make your return back to Ouran as easy as possible?" I wasn't sure how to answer this, but I saw the twins, and they were genuinely worried about disappointing their mother.

"Yes, they are quite hospitable."

"Have either asked you to dinner yet? I-"

The twins grabbed the phone from me and yelled, "Hanaemori-chan, would you like to come to our house for dinner?" They both started speak-yelling into the phone. "We invited her, ok Mom? Ok, we'll see you later! goodnight!" And both of the brothers fell to their knees in relief. I hadn't even said a reply to the dinner invitation yet, but I guessed it was kind of a rhetorical question and that I had to go. ^_^'

The twins were very close to their mother so any disappointment to her made them upset, but this was just plain funny. They were _scared_ of disappointing her.

BOOM! The first firework went off. We all stared at the night sky as it lit up with many different colors with tons of booms and crackles.

"It's…pretty." I sighed under my breath. I haven't seen fireworks in ages…probably since I was last with the twins. I've been too busy in America to notice anything besides work and business.

I just wanted to immerse in color. And beauty. That's all. That was my wish.

-**Hikaru**-

"It's...pretty." I heard Hanaemori sigh and stare off in wonder. She was a lot like a little kid, just wanting to see the good things in the world. She saw a lot of bad in her 15 years. Losing parents, being constantly moved… I don't know how she did it.

She's the strongest person I know.

I smiled and took another glance at her. Our Third Musketeer.

And I smiled.

-**Kaoru**-

Hikaru was so happy! :] I looked at my brother as he smiled. I knew what he was thinking. Our little trio was back together, and now we have a quartet with Haruhi here.

We had a little family.

-**Hanaechan**-

I almost forgot about the food! "Hey! Guys, I bought some takoyaki for us to share." We all shared food that we bought. Everyone was laughing and talking and having fun.

I was a part of something bigger. I had friends. And even more than just Hikaru and Kaoru. Haruhi and Hunny and Mori…. Even Kyoya and Tamaki were my friends…as much as I hated to admit Kyoya was in that group.

It was nice.

-*30 minutes later*-

The fireworks had ended and everyone was getting ready to leave. We all started to walk away from the festival together when I stopped them.

"I just have something to say to all of you." I said. They all looked at me in a confused manner, wondering what I might say. "Thank you. For being my friends. Even though I just returned to Ouran, I've made more friends than I possibly could have imagined. Thank you so much for that." I said it all with a smile, and they all looked at me.

"AWWWW HANAE-CHAN!" Tamaki, Hunny, and the twins glomped me and hugged me so much I could barely breathe. "YOU'RE SO CUTE!"

Even though I was suffocating and trying to pry four people off of me, I smiled and thought of how lucky I was to have everyone as my friends.

-**end chapter 2**- :3


	4. Chapter 3: Birthdays, Dinner, Butterflie

_A/N:  
>So sorry this took so long to update! I had finals and work... and I hit a few roadblocks with this chapter, but they're finally overcome! Plus, everytime I use the laptop, someone needs it for something else seemingly more important. D: Once the end of July comes around the laptop is mine for good. <em>

_I'm rather happy with this. Honestly, it took a while, and I'm totally enjoying writing this fanfiction. Thank you everyone that reads! _

_I sincerely appreciate all comments/reviews. =]_

_~Italy_

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Birthdays, Dinner, Butterflies, and Monsters! Oh, My!<p>

-**Kaoru**-

Mom planned the dinner to be on Hikaru's and my birthday, which was today. She of course wanted Hanae-chan to be there for the event, which actually made this really stressful on Hikaru and I. We often didn't want anyone to really do much for our birthday, so we never mentioned it. Having Hanae-chan over was a pretty big deal...and Mom had this whole dinner planned.

***flashback to earlier this week***

I walked into the living room and Mom was there chatting on the phone. "Mhmm! Yes, on Thursday! Oh, and it's their birthday! But don't get them anything, they're spoiled enough as it is. Make sure to be here early~ Oh, maybe around 4? That way we can talk and be ready before 6 o'clock dinner! Ok, see you then!"

"Mommmm, who could you possibly be inviting over on our birthday?" I said with a pout.

She wore a cattish grin. "Hanaemori-chan! Who else?"

***end flashback***

Neither Hikaru and I were too happy about the day picked, but we decided to deal with it. I was really hoping Hanae-chan would follow Mom's advice about not getting us anything, but I had a strong feeling in my guy that she would go out and get us something anyway.

After the whole festival incident, everyone in the Host Club made sure Hanae-chan had all of our numbers and that we had hers so we could text anytime. If she did get us a gift, I was hoping I could somehow pay her back. Her whole financial situation made me feel uneasy about her spending money, and I didn't want her wasting money on Hikaru and me.

I got out my phone and texted her, "No gifts."

Within seconds, she texted back, "Too late." I was annoyed now. She really shouldn't spend the money she worked so hard for.

"How much was it?" I texted.

She didn't text back... D: It probably meant she spent too much!

-**a few minutes later...in the Twins' room**-

I walked into the room Hikaru and I had shared for our whole lives. Hikaru was sitting by the window, just staring outside.

"Hikaru," I said. "What time is it?" I asked mainly just to see if he would answer me. He didn't, so I just plopped down on the bed and watched him gaze at nothing.

What could be so interesting about looking through a window?

-**Hikaru**-

I was trying to see why Hanae-chan always stared out the window. She always does it, sometimes just dropping out of conversations to just look at some little thing. It drivesme insane, so I decided the other day to try it. And here I was, focusing so hard on...nothing, that I couldn't focus on anything else!

Something touched my shoulder. I immediately turned around, and there was Kaoru, smiling like usual.

"C'mon, we should probably go greet Hanae-chan." He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the chair.

When did the doorbell ring?

-**Hanaechan**-

The sun was out today, lighting up everything. I brushed off my dress and fixed my hair as best as I could without a mirror. I ran here, thinking I was going to be late, so I got some dust on my dress. The white and green dress had sides that were longer and flowed along as I walked.

I sighed, and held my large purse next to me. It was white, and inside, it held a white box with red ribbon. The twins' gift was hard to think of on such short notice.

"Hanae-chan~ Welcome...to our home!" The twins were at the door, both of them smiling cattish grins. When did the door open?

I laughed a little. "Happy birthday!" I said with a smile.

The twins didn't respond right away. They looked at me and I looked at them back, confused as to why nothing was going on. "What-"

"TOO CUTE!" Both of the twins glomped me and I struggled to breathe.

"Saying happy birthday with such enthusiasm-" Kaoru started.

"And with that smile-" Hikaru continued.

"IT WAS TOO CUTE!"

Both of the twins continued to hug me until I squeaked out, "Shouldn't we go in?"

"Oh! You're right Hanae-chan! Mom wants to see you!" They both grabbed my hands and pulled me into the giant house that I haven't seen for years. Both of the twins were talking to me about several different things at once, and I couldn't keep up.

"Boys, don't you think that you shouldn't talk so quickly to Hanae-chan? She looks positively confused." The tall thin short-haired woman was walking toward us with the same cat-like grin the twins often had on their faces.

"But... we've got a lot to tell Hanae-chan. We haven't seen her since...almost 2 hours ago!"

Mrs. Hitachiin looked at her boys with a playful scowl on her face. "You two see her everyday in class. It's my turn to steal her." The twins pouted.

"But it's our birthday!"

"But nothing! You two failed to inform me she was back. We need to catch up." Mrs. Hitachiin pulled me away from the duo, both of which had annoyed expressions plastered on their faces.

Mrs. Hitachiin and I sat down in chairs facing each other. "You really have grown, haven't you Hanae-chan?"

"It's been a few years."

"True, but I don't mean just your body. I can see it in your eyes. You're all grown up." I wasn't sure what to say. I eyed the twins listening in to our conversation. Mrs. Hitachiin continued, "Although, you DID grow physically. Look at you! You're not all flat like before!" I felt myself turn a deep red and I saw the twins hurry away to their room in embarrassment.

"Uh...I was in middle school then...ahahaha..."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted those two to leave." She gave me a warm look. "They really do care about you, huh?"

I smiled. The twins definitely took after her.

"I wonder which one you'll marry..."

I coughed. "What!"

"Oh nothing, just kidding!"

-**Yuzuha Hitachiin**-

We haven't seen each other since the funeral of her parents. She grew up a lot. I could see the wariness in her eyes. She seems guarded, but seems mostly at ease with the boys and me.

And she looks just like her mother. The light brown hair (except for the purple streak in it, that is) is the exact same shade, as well as her light skin tone. The only thing that she inherited physically from her father is the color or her eyes. Deep jade green, as intense as any actual piece of jade stone.

"How was New York?" I asked. Living in that busy city must have taken a toll on her. Ouran was her first real school, and I'm hoping she stays longer than the last time she experienced it. Nothing but tutors for years and then she gets enrolled into a school. How traumatic!

She took a minute to answer. "From what I experienced...It was a busy and cold city. Not much feeling. And too much gray. Not enough color."

A typical answer from her. That was her biggest pet peeve. Not enough color. She has an eye for it. It's probably why she looks out of windows all the time.

-**Hanaechan**-

I feel like she's analyzing me or something. "Um, Mrs. Hitachiin-"

"Do **not **go there. My name is Yuzuha, so call me by it." I always felt weird calling an adult by their first name.

"Okayyy, Yuzuha. May I ask why you're analyzing me in such a silent fashion?"

"One, I know that's not how you talk with your friends. Two, I just keep thinking that you look just like your mom." She paused a minute before continuing. I could tell she wasn't sure how to ask whatever she wanted to ask form the face she was making. The twins do the exact same thing. She took a breath. "How...How are things at...home?" I could tell the word "home" was a term of conflict for her, since my "home" doesn't really seem like one.

I sighed. "Well... I guess it's as good as it can be." And with that I meant as good as it can be with my aunt. She knew that though, so I don't really have to say it.

"New topic! I have a new line of clothes... and I was kind of maybe hoping that you would kinda maybe try them on for me? :D" Mrs. Hitachiin said it with such hope that I couldn't say no.

"Ah, sure. Why not?" She grinned and pulled me along.

"Oi! Mom, are you done talking to Hanae-chan yet?" The twins seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Hmm, well, yes and no. She's gonna try on some clothes." She wore the mischievous cat grin that the twins seemed to have gained as well. Oh dear...

"But it's our turn to steal Hanae-chan!" The two pouted as they followed us.

"After she tries on clothes!"

"Fiiiiiiiiiinnnnneeee, but then we're stealing her for the rest of the night. :P"

We all entered the room where Mrs. Hitachiin often keeps her newest creations. The twins came in too.

"Wha-what are you two doing?" I asked.

"Huh? We're gonna sit and watch you model. :]"

"What? N-"

"Now Hanae-chan... I need someone to critique and someone to take pictures! So it's only perfect that the boys come along." I sighed and I saw the two high five.

**-5 minutes later: in the dressing room-**

Mrs. Hitachiin insisted on several items that I had to try on. The first one she handed me is a black halter dress with very little gold accent. The gold was placed perfectly to draw peoples' eyes, but not enough to be considered showy or flashy.

She gave me heels and stockings to put on too, so after I finally got those on, I stepped out. It was a litle weird "modeling" for just three people, and at that, the twins made up 2/3 which made it really awkward for me.

Mrs. Hitachiin was ecstatic. "It's perfect on you! Ahhhh, look! The flare of the skirt still shows off how slim you are, and the accent is perfect!" Her eyes sparkled with joy.

-**Hikaru-**

She looks good. Really good. That dress really did suit her.

**-Kaoru-**

Mom gave me the camera to take pictures, and I was getting impatient with Mom blocking any possible shots.

"Hey, do you want pictures or not?" I said. Hanae-chan looked kinda nervous. "Hanae-chan, you were a model. Why're you freaking out now?"

"I never modeled in front of my friends, haha...It makes me feel weird."

"Pretend we're not here... Pretend we're your photographers." I could tell she didn't want to disappoint Mom, so she tried imagining Hikaru and I to be totally different people.

Mom told her different poses to do, and she obeyed with ease as I took pictures of each pose. She's really cute! :D

-**Hikaru**-

Mom turned to me. "Hikaru, what do you think of the dress?"

"It...It's perfect on her." I stuttered. I could feel myself blushing, and I could feel the words jumble inside of my head the more I looked at her. What in the world is going on?

-**Hanaemori**: **15 minutes later**-

I was done. After several ensembles, I refused to try on any other clothes. Kaoru and Hikaru clapped after my show was done, and Mrs. Hitachiin showered me with compliments.

I felt like I could do anything with their support.

As I finished changing, the three were in a world of their own. The twins and their mom. They're a family, and nothing can ever change that. It's something I envied about them.

A real family. What is it? Is it all bound by blood?

I don't know what it is, yet I'm envious of it. I want to be part of a family.

-**Hikaru a few minutes previous**-

While Hanae-chan was off changing, Mom came over smiling. "I'm glad you two are being such good friends with her," she said. "I really wasn't sure how she would adjust coming back."

"It's no big deal," Kaoru said. "She fit right in with Hikaru and I since day one back at the middle school. She's our Third musketeer and nothing will ever change that." I couldn't have said it any better myself. Mom grinned and we all laughed.

"When did you two grow up?" She asked. She started reminiscing about old memories, mostly embarrassing ones of Kaoru and I. I could tell how much she hated it when she was gone, because she felt like she was missing something.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hanae-chan appear. I continued the conversation with Mom and Kaoru, but I watched her carefully. A strange expression crossed her face... It was lonliness.

I had the urge to go an hug her, but she put her best poker face on. Mom noticed she was back.

"Hanae-chan, come join us! I was just about to tell these two about the first time they-" Kaoru and I cut her off, sensing the possible humiliation that might happen if she goes on any further.

"No way! It's our turn to steal Hanae-chan!" Brother and I got up off the couch and stole Hanae-chan away from Mom, hoping she won't hear any embarrassing stories from her anytime soon.

-**Yuzuha**-

Although I never let it on, I knew which of my boys was which. It was usually really easy to tell... but I saw the changes within them lately. Kaoru has taken up the big brother role for Hikaru, who seems lost within his own thoughts lately. They switched roles out of nowhere. I smiled.

This should be good for the two of them. In middle school, relationships never really go further than puppy love. But now in High School, my boys are going to face a lot of new emotions, and they may just have to learn how to separate themselves from each other.

They were growing up.

-**Kaoru-**

We led Hanae-chan outside to the flower gardens behind our house.

"Woah..." She looked at all the different plants and colors with such awe, you might've thought she was 5 years old.

"Kaoru and I designed the garden... Well, what flowers and where they go." Hikaru said.

"Yeah, we did. We have a bit of a knack for it." Hanae-chan looked at us.

"Who knew two knuckleheads like you could have any eye for art? Huh, maybe Hell is freezing over..."

"Excuse me, but was either of you two boys going to let me in, or was I going to have to wait outside all damned day?" That voice...

"GRANDMA?" Hikaru and I shouted.

-**Hanaechan-**

A tall slim lady with flowers in her hair was standing at the back entrance to the house with an annoyed look on her face.

"GRANDMA?" When the twins yelled that, I was shocked. This was their grandmother?

"I told you two never to call me that!" She said. Then she noticed I was standing there. "Oh, who's this? A girlfriend of one of you two?"

"No, uh, madam, I am a friend of the twins. My name is Hana-"

"OH! I know who you are! Yuzuha told me about you. Plus you're much too pretty and look much too sensible to date either of these two hooligans. My name is Kazuha." The twins stuck out their tongues at her. I laughed.

"Grandma-" Hikaru started before he got the evil eye. "Fine. Kazuha, you old hag, what are you doing here?"

Why was I not shocked to hear him call his own grandmother and old hag?

"Bah, still disrespectful. Well, if you must know, I am here for your birthday! You two bums should appreciate your elders more-" She kept talking in a rant.

"Psstt." The twins came closer. "Into the flower garden we go. We have to get away from the old hag." The two brothers dragged me off into the flower garden that they had impressively designed.

-**Kazuha Hitachiin after her rant**-

"So did you two get all of that?" I opened my eyes from ranting and I saw the two devils were gone, as well as that girl. How inconsiderate!

"Hmm, Kazuha? You arrived early!" Yuzuha stood at the back entrance. "Where did my two boys go?"

"I think they went off into the flower garden with that girl." I said, sighing. Those two always gave me a headache. They reminded me too much of myself. "Speaking of which, did those two create this garden?"

"Yes, they did. A few months ago, they were suddenly dedicated to making the world's finest garden. Right after your last visit, in fact."

I smiled. Although those two were a complete headache, they did have some grand skill when it came to flower arranging.

-**Hikaru-**

Kaoru and I finally stopped dragging Hanae-chan through the gardens.

"No fair," she said with a pout on her face."You two dragged me through the garden without getting a chance to look at all of it." She would pout about something like that. I laughed a little and Kaoru smiled.

"Not funny! It's like letting someone only glance at the Statue of David. This garden is amazing!" We were all in the center of the garden, which we made as a little clearing for people to hang out at. Hanae-chan layed down on the grass.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hm? Taking in the colors. It's all so pretty, but you can't look at them all at once. You won't appreciate them."

Kaoru laid down on one side of her, and I laid down on the other side of her. We started pointing out clouds and looking at their shapes.

Something fluttered by us. Three butterflies were flying over our heads. We all lay perfectly still and watched them as they landed on Hanae-chan. A royal blue one landed closest to me, and I stared at it. The one closest to Kaoru has bright orange wings and the final one landed on Hanae-chan's nose. Its wings contained many colors and it looked almost transparent. It was possibly the most beautiful butterfly I have ever seen.

Hanae-chan sneezed and the butterflies flew off. "That tickled, haha." All three of us watched them as they flew off together into the sky.

-**Kaoru**-

It really wasn't a surprise that we had such pretty butterflies in the garden. The only surprising thing was that they actually landed on Hanae-chan and so near to us!

"Hanae-chan, are you an alien that can communicate with the creatures of the world in some psychic way?" I asked in total seriousness.

She laughed. "No, but sometimes I feel like one. I don't get why butterflies aren't afraid of me."

"It's because you're just as fragile as they are." Hikaru said. "They're not afraid, because they know you're just like a butterfly, constantly wanting to fly to brighter colors."

Did Hikaru just speak to Hanae-chan from the heart? :O

Then I saw him get embarrassed from what he said. He turned to look away from Hanae-chan while his face turned bright red.

"That was a wonderful thing to say Hikaru," Hanae-chan replied.

The smile she gave him made me a little envious.

-**Hanae-chan-**

The twins finally let me have a chance of looking at all the flowers. Their design was impeccable. Two different flowers would look as if from the same seed, just as if each flower had a twin. It suited them in so many ways.

I wonder if they realized how talented they were with arranging flowers. "Oi, Hanae-chan!" The twins spoke to me out of nowhere. "How long are you gonna look at the flowers?"

"Huh? Aren't you happy someone is appreciating your work?"

"No, we really don't care." That figures. "You're really looking at everything, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. This garden is fantastic. And I haven't seen flowers as brilliant as these in a long time."

The flowers smelled good. I really can't believe the twins designed such a great garden. I knew the twins were watching my every move from the garden. Even though they said they didn't care what I think, I could tell they wanted some insight from someone.

"You hooligans!" The twins' grandma was running towards us.

"We ran in here hoping you wouldn't follow." The twins said simultaneously.

"You two always underestimate me," She sighed. I couldn't really pay attention to where their conversation was going... because I was distracted by her obnoxious hairstyle. It's so...eccentric and large and filled with flowers! Who would do that?

"What do you think Hanae-chan?" The twins said.

"What?" I said, not paying attention.

"Tell the old hag what you think about our garden! She says it's mediocre at best!" The two were very annoyed with whatever she said.

"Actually, I really like it. It shows a lot of emotion and a great sense of color. I think it's almost perfect." I said it with complete seriousness in my voice as I continued to look at Kazuha's hair.

"SHE'S SO CUTE." The twins glomped me and gave me a giant twin death squeeze. Why can't I ever say anything without getting hugged to death anymore?

"Hmph, well it looks as if you have one fan." Kazuha stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

The twins are just like her, it's uncanny. Now both parties were sticking the tongues out at each other and making faces at one another. -_-'

"Shouldn't dinner be soon?" I said, hoping someone would stop with the faces.

"Huh? Probably." The twins looked blankly at me and didn't move. So did Kazuha.

"So...Are we gonna go now?" I asked, hearing my stomach start to growl.

"Hikaru, what do you think, should we go?" Kaoru said in his prankster voice.

"Hmm, I dunno Kaoru...She DID say she wanted to see **all** the flowers..."

"But I'm hungryyyyy." I whined.

"You two should let the girl go...It's impolite to make a lady wait." Kazuha defended my hunger.

"But it's no fun if we just let her go!"

The twins started arguing with their grandma again, so I took this as an opportunity to start walking toward the way we came.

-**Hikaru-**

Grandma finally gave up arguing when her own stomach growled. Kaoru and I turned to Hanae-chan, but she wasn't there.

"Kaoru..." I said tentatively. "Wasn't she here a minute ago?"

"Yes, yes she was..."

"Does this mean we have to go find her?" I asked.

"If we don't, I think mother might kill us in our sleep."

"What, can't the girl find her own way out?" The old hag asked. We turned to face her.

"IT'S YOURRR FAULT SHE'S LOST," we hissed.

**-Hanaechan-**

I've decided going off on my own is a much better decision once those two idiots start arguing with someone. Yeah, I get lost...a lot, but surely I can find my way through the garden, right?

"Hanae-chan~"

I turned around and saw Hunny! "Ah, Hunny-senpai, what are you doing here?" What WAS he doing here? Mori soon came into view, as did the rest of the Host Club. "What are all of you doing here?"

"Yuzuha~chan invited us over for the twins' birthday!" Hunny exclaimed. "And she said that you went into the flower garden! But where are Hika-kun and Kao-kun?"

"Yeah, where are the birthday twins?"Haruhi asked... I saw her and noticed she was actually dressed like a girl. AND IS TOTALLY ADORABLE.

I think she noticed the look of utter AWWWW-ness on my face. Tamaki commented,"I knowwww, isn't my daughter so cute and precious?"

"What are you talking about? Daughter?"

"Ohhhh~ Haha, we never explained to you how our family works! I'm the Daddy, Kyoya-kun is Mommy! Haruhi is our daughter, and the twins are our sons! Hunny and Mori-senpai are our neighbors!" Then he stopped looking all happy and got all confused. "But...wait... who are you then? Ohhh, you can be my other-"

"I vote being Hunny and Mori's kid." I totally shot Tamaki down.

"B-but...whyyyyy? I could've spoiled you and teased you and-"

"There's no way I could live with you being my dad, even my metaphorical one."

As Tamaki went off to sulk, Haruhi cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we be looking for the twins?"

"I guess...I'd rather just walk back to the house... There's cake and I'm starving." Hunny looked at me wide-eyed. "WE MUST HURRY FOR OUR DAUGHTER'S SAKE TAKASHI!"

What have I gotten myself into?

"Oi! We found you-What are all of you doing here?"

-**Hikaru**-

I looked at the group of misfits we called "friends" and sighed. "Mom called you, didn't she?"

They all nodded.

Kaoru and I both sighed. "She really is sweet...Although she doesn't know that now everything is a hassle for us."

-**Haruhi-**

I saw the two devils give me a strange look.

"What...are you two thinking about?" I asked, kind of scared of what may happen in the next severa-

"TOO CUTEEEE!"

Before I could even finish my thought, the twins were hugging me. Tamaki was freaking out.

"AWWW YOU'RE ADORABLE-" Hikaru started.

"-IN THAT PINK DRESS!" Kaoru finished the statement.

"Um...? Happy birthday?" I said as the two hugged me. Tamaki was still speechless to the boys' behavior.

"HANAE~CHAN!" Hunny yelled in his loudest voice. We looked at him. "I'M A BAD DADDY! I LOST MY DAUGHTER! MY ONLY DAUGHTER!"

The twins looked seriously confused as Hunny started ranting and crying (with Mori trying to comfort him) and I filled them in real quick about how Hanaemori-chan is now part of our metaphorical family.

But Hunny was right, she was indeed gone.

-**Hanaechan**-

I could smell food. And my stomach commanded me to find it.

But now I was lost again! D:

-**Haruhi**-

We decided that standing still and freaking out would not be productive. So, we started walking through the garden.

The sun was down now, letting the night take over. We were walking when the twins put their arms around me. "You're not afraid of the dark, are you Haruhi-chan?" Hikaru asked.

"We can protect you, or if not, you can protect us." The two were making their usual perverted suggestions.

"Y-You doppelgangers! Get off of her!" Tamaki was freaking out. "If she needs any protecting, she'll come to me, her father! Isn't that right Haruhi?"

"No way." I said. The two devils stuck their tongue out at Tamaki-senpai to tease him more.

"Maybe she can sleep with us tonight to keep all the monsters in the dark away." Hikaru suggested.

Tamaki looked like he might have a heart attack. "I will never let my daughter alone with you two for more than a second! No! It's not right! I can't all- WHAT WAS THAT!"

We all stopped and turned to look at Tamaki. He was frozen still with a look of sheer terror glued on his face.

"Tamaki-senpai...What's wrong?" I asked.

"Didn't you see it! That creature!" He yelled obnoxiously at all of us.

"It was just the dark, chill out." The twins said.

"I agree with Kaoru and Hikaru. You tend to overreact quite often about nothing." Kyoya said in his cool manner.

"You don't believe me? But, but I just saw it! A creature of the night! Of darkness! Of eeeviiilllllllll!" He said the last word with emphasis and used hand gestures to make it seem scarier, when all it did was make it seem ridiculous and stupid.

"Just stop hallucinating Tamaki-senpai." I said. We all waved him off and continued to walk through the garden, which definitely seemed creepy during the nighttime.

SWOOSHHHH!

Something ran past us and we started running and screaming. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

-**Hanaechan**-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I heard screaming come from somewhere in the garden and it sounded like the guys from the Host Club. I wonder what's wrong with them?

SWOOOSHHHH!

"What in the world!" I yelled.

-**Tamaki**-

We all stopped running for a moment to catch our breath.

"What...was...that." Hikaru gasped.

"The...mon...ster." I replied. "Told...you."

"Wait!" Hunny-senpai was already recovered and ready to start running again if need be. "There's a big scary monster...and Hanae~chan is out there... alone... In the dark..."

We all looked at each other and knew where he was going with this. We were bad hosts to let our sponsor be sacrificed to an evil beast of the night! D: What if she leaves the Host Club forever and tells everyone how we abandoned her IN THE DARK WITH A MONSTER ON THE LOOSE?

"Alright!" I started speaking in an authoritative manner that I think made me look even more king-like. "Our mission is to find our sponsor, Hanaemori Arrington, and protect her from whatever beasts dwell within the garden! We-"

"SHUT UP. MY DAUGHTER IS GONE. AND SHE MIGHT BE SCARED. .." Hunny-senpai scares me sometimes...like now. D:

-**Hikaru**-

Hunny takes this whole family thing as serious as Tamaki, it seems.

"Hikaru," Kaoru started whispering to me. "What in the world could even be in the garden without us noticing? We're in here quite often..."

"I dunno. Maybe we're all imagining it because aliens took over our minds with hypnotic rays."

"That is a very strong possibility... Hunny is a rather overprotective erm, father, isn't he?"

"Well, he's pretty responsible, so he's probably freaking out at how he lost a human being in less than three seconds."

The small, yet determined, Hunny was leading the group through the garden; Mori followed behind him as always.

"Takashi, we have to make sure to apologize for losing her! Maybe some cake? Oh, and presents! Lots of presents! We have to make sure she's ok. Do you have your first aid kit with you?"

I looked at the blonde boy and wondered how he could take something so ridiculous so seriously. But then I looked at our group... A guy who thinks he's a king and our father, a girl who dresses up as a guy daily and has no issues about it, a secretive and conniving guy with glasses that can kill with the looks he gives, a tall and strong silent guy that takes care of his elder cousin, who not only looks like he's 7 years old, but acts like it too!

No wonder we're all messed up.

-**Hanaechan-**

All hallucinations, scary noises, and creepy shadows aside, it isn't so bad in this garden at night! I kinda enjoy it.

I think the boys should really get some road signs or something put in here... I think I've passed this certain bunch of orchids three times now.

Snap.

Something was behind me.

-**Haruhi-**

There really has to be an explanation for all of this. No such things as monsters. That's what I've been told. There is no such thing.

Hunny was really anxious about Hanaemori-chan being lost, but I think he was going overboard... He's like mini-Tamaki sometimes... And this worries me.

"If you're scared Haruhi, Daddy's here-"

I cut off Tamaki in an instant, hearing something. "Shut up." The king got upset and then I heard a growl.

All of us turned around at the same time and saw the same giant shadow of...a beast and went running.

-**Hunny~**-

We were running from something again when I stopped, holding up the entire group.

"Enough running! We must stand and fight! Everyone, arm yourselves!"

-**Haruhi-**

Arm ourselves? Mori and Hunny had their fighting skills, so they didn't really need anything. The Twins grabbed a few sticks, and Tamaki held a hose in his hands. Kyoya and I were shoved aside since we were kind of useless in a situation like this.

Something rustled once again, and everyone turned toward it, ready to fight. Hunny started counting off. "One..." We all stood still as some plants were moving. "Two..." It was getting closer. "T-" Before Hunny even finished the word, Tamaki used the hose and sprayed water at whatever was coming our way.

And I saw Hanaemori-chan being splashed with water. Hunny started shaking Tamaki to stop attacking his daughter.

"What. The. Hell." The girl was sopping wet and had a murderous gleam in her eyes. She looked at all of us and her gaze stopped at Tamaki, who was frozen with fear and regret. "I am going to tea-"

"Daughter! You're ok! Are you hurt? Do you need a bandaid? Did the monster attack you?" Hunny bombarded her with questions and Mori held her from strangling Tamaki.

"Meow?"

"What was that?" I asked. A cat?

"That," she paused. " Is the voice of the dang creepy shadow that scared me half to death." She pulled out a small kitten from her purse. It looked at us wide eyed and it was shivering from the hose attack Tamaki had initiated.

"Kitty!" Hunny held the kitty in his arms and smiled. The kitten took to him immediately. We all surrounded the feline and patted its head (except Tamaki, it hissed when he came near).

"This was the creepy shadow? It's just a white little puffball of a cat!" The twins exclaimed.

SWOOOSH.

"Wha!" We all started yelling except Hanaemori-chan, who stayed calm.

"I THOUGHT YOU CAPTURED THE MONSTER!" Tamaki shouted to Hanaemori-chan.

Hanaemori-chan shot him a dirty look and walked toward the shadow. She bent down and picked something up and turned toward us.

"It's another kitten, 'cept it's black." She showed us the other cat, who only seemed interested in its sibling, who is still sopping wet.

"Poor kitty, it's cold!" Hunny said.

"You're worried about the kitten, who has fur to keep her warm?" Hanaemori-chan exclaimed.

-**Hanaechan**-

Un-be-lievable. Everyone's worried about the cat, who will be dry in no time, but I'm stuck here shivering. Cool.

"Oh, Hanae-chan! You're soaking wet from Tamaki's hose attack!" The twins said, stating the obvious.

"No, duh." I shot Tamaki a dirty look.

"Mori, do you have anything that can help our daughter? She might get sick!" Mori shook his head.

I sneezed.

"IT'S HAPPENING ALREADY. MORI, WE HAVE TO GET HER BACK TO THE HOUSE, NOWWWW!" Hunny demanded.

Uh oh! Not the "Mori-runs-like-a-cyborg" move again! D: That scared me enough last time, but now with two kittens in my arms, which are sure to have heart attacks from something that intense! D:

Mori picked me up, even as I objected, and ran toward the house at full speed.

I could see everyone trying to follow (only Hunny successfully doing so), only to get left behind.

-**Haruhi**-

We all looked off at the two figures running toward the Hitachiin mansion.

"So," Hikaru started. "You guys wanna leave the garden now?"

We all nodded unanimously, and started walking towards the estate.

-**Hanaechan**-

"Hunny, I'm fine."

"You're going to get the flu, which will become pneumonia, and you will die," he explained to me.

"No, I won't. I will be fine. I do not need a doctor. I just want to get some new clothes and take this kittens home to make sure they don't have any trauma from that run."

"But, but! I don't want you to get sick! D:" Hunny started getting all teary eyed and I felt bad.

"Look, if I sneeze one more time, you can take me to the doctor, but otherwise no."

"There you are!" Yuzuha started walking towards Hunny, Mori, and I. We were waiting on the back porch for the others to arrive. "Hanae-chan... why you are soaking wet?"

"A stupid boy with the mind of a turkey decided to spray me with a hose. As well as one of these poor kittens." I showed her the two puffballs, who seemed intent on using their claws to stay attached to me.

"Here, come with me, I'll get you some clothes. Where did you find these two little ones anyway?" I started walking away from "mom" and "dad" and followed Yuzuha.

"They were terrorizing the garden. Quite effectively, I might add."

"Well these two are still just babies. Look at them! No more than a few months old!"

-**Haruhi**-

After a few minutes, the twins lead us out of the garden and to the back porch of their house, where Mori and Hunny-senpai were waiting.

"Where's Hanae-chan?" The twins asked.

"Your mom came and took her to go get some clothes! Good thing, or else she could've gotten sick!"

We all sat down, exhausted and exasperated. A strange woman with flowers in her hair appeared out of thin air.

"Ughhhhhhh." The twins groaned. "Not the old hag! Didn't you leave?" Old hag?

"It's Kazuha!" Hunny said excitedly. Leave it to Hunny to get along with basically anyone. "Hiiii Kazuha! Do you have any pretty flowers for me or Usa-chan?" He smiled and skipped all around the porch.

"Haninozuka! Of course I do! You're probably my favorite of these two hooligans' friends. You are much too cute." The woman handed him a large pink flower. "It's a pink hibiscus. Matches your Usa-chan perfectly, don't you agree?" Hunny nodded and thanked her and continued to skip and sing.

"Psst... The old hag is our grandma. You'd never know it, seeing as how we are nothing like her." The twins whispered to me. So this was their infamous grandmother that arranges flowers!

And they really think they're nothing like her?

**-Yuzuha-**

I handed Hanae-chan several comfortable sun dresses to choose from. They were all about her size, ready to go for whoever wanted to buy them.

She stepped out from the changing room wearing a light blue dress with loose cut sides. I knew she would pick that one, seeing as it fit perfectly! :D The two kittens that followed her in were sitting on one of my chairs and watched her carefully.

"It looks wonderful! Are you sure you won't be returning to modeling anytime soon?" I sighed.

"Thanks, but no. I gave that up. I have no time for it. Plus it was much too hectic."

"That was in America when that was your **job**! If you just did it as a _hobby_, it could be seriously relaxing. They even give you transportation to small vacation hotspots to do the shoots." I tried convincing her, especially since I wanted her to model **my **clothes. I could tell the sound of a vacation sounded heavenly to her.

"I'll think about it. No promises."

"That's all I ask," I said with a wink. "Now, let's get the others. I know dinner should be ready soon, and I have to find where my husband went to hide."

-**Haruhi**-

I could not even believe what I was witnessing. These twins are so much alike in personality with their grandmother, it is inconceivable. The two parties were arguing about colors and arrangements, so anything they said flew over my head.

"What...Are they seriously arguing again?" Hanaemori was back, this time in a light blue dress. She held the two kittens and her purse, and looked at the ongoing argument with irritation.

"Yup, something about arrangements," I replied. "Those two kittens have really taken to you." I noted, seeing as how they wanted to attach themselves to her new dress.

"Ahaha, yeah, but they're being tough to handle. They want to shred this dress, and I'd rather not have one of Yuzuha's originals torn to pieces." The dress suited her quite well actually. It was fitted for the top, but the skirt flowed and moved with each of her movements.

"Why do they keep doing that?" I heard a man speak. Hanaemori and I looked behind us and saw Mr. Hitachiin standing there, with an exasperated look on his face.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Hitachiin," Hanaemori said politely. He turned his attention to her and smiled quite happily. "Ah, Hanaemori! Yuzuha mentioned you returned! Glad to see you so well!" Then he saw me. "And Haruhi! How have you been doing?"

"Quite well, thank you!" I said with a smile. "How have you been doing?"

"I've been alright. A long day at work, but I'm finally home to celebrate my boys' birthday." He smiled toward the boys. "Oh, and also, you two don't have to call me Mr. Hitachiin, you can call me-"

"Son! I didn't see you! These two hooligans of yours really need a lesson in manners, you know." Kazuha spoke as she walked over. The twins were on the ground, totally wiped out from her witty sarcasm and comebacks.

"Are you two ok?" I asked.

"Must...get vengeance." Hikaru muttered in a sigh.

"We shall defeat...the old hag." Kaoru stated weakly.

"Never thought I'd see the day that the Hitachiin twins would be so readily defeated. And by their _grandmother_. Ha! Oh, this is one for the books," Hanaemori laughed. Both Hikaru and Kaoru readily jumped up to argue with her, but they didn't know what to say.

So they stared at each other blankly. "Have nothing to say?" She asked them. "Quite defeat-"

"You look really cute in that dress," Hikaru said avoiding direct eye contact. Hanaemori said nothing, just looked at him. Now _she_ was at a loss for words. Everyone was watching this whole conversation play out.

"Now look at _you_, Hanae-chan! Calling brother and I defeated, when you have nothing to say!" Kaoru scoffed. Hanaemori looked at Kaoru and she frowned. And started tearing up. The twins started freaking out, and Hunny came over immediately.

"No! It's ok! Those two are just meanies! They didn't mean it! I'll get you cake, ok? You, me, Takashi, Usa-chan, and your Neko-chan can all have some, alright?" Hunny glared at the twins with a face that screamed "RAWR", and the two tried making her feel better.

Tamaki was yelling at the twins for making her cry, and Kyoya brought out his black book (when did that get here?) and started scribbling something illegible down. Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin, as well as Kazuha Hitachiin stared at the farce that was being made in front of their eyes.

And Hanaemori started laughing. Everyone stopped yelling/apologizing/rawring and just stared as she threw a fit of laughter. Now she wiped her eyes from tears of laughter. "You-You really fell for that? The twins couldn't insult me enough to **really** cry. I can't believe the great Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the pranksters, fell for that act of crocodile tears!"

Kaoru and Hikaru replied with sticking their tongues out at Hanaemori, and Hunny laughed. "Haha, Hanae-chan! You got everyone really good! You really must be good at acting! Even I believed it~ And Takashi too, right Taka?" Mori nodded and Hunny hugged her. Tamaki sighed, and Kyoya fixed his glasses and smiled, just a little.

"See what you two did to Hanae-chan? She would never pull crocodile tears like that before, but you two influenced her! You shouldn't teach her how to do such things, you know." Yuzuha scolded the twins who looked in shock, but then a look of realization started creeping into their expressions.

"You know what, brother? Mom's right. Hanae-chan never could pull off crocodile tears **before** she met us. I guess **we** truly developed her acting talent," Hikaru said obnoxiously to Kaoru. Kaoru smirked.

"Well, I guess you're right, Hikaru! Although we **should** give the girl credit...But without us, she would have never put on such an appealing performance."

"You two are just jealous because I never fell for the crocodile tears act once with you two," she stuck her tongue out at the twins.

"Enough, you three." Yuzuha exclaimed. "I think we're all hungry. Let's eat dinner." I heard her whisper something to . It sounded like "Just like old times."

-**Hanaemori *after dinner, at the table with everyone***-

The food was great. We were all talking, laughing, and sharing stories as we waited for the cake to arrive. The twins are always so sociable now, it's weird. I would have never expected them to be so friendly, seeing as how our short junior high experiences excluded everyone else.

The cake was being brought out and it's huge! Blue and orange frosting decorated the white cake, and candles stood brilliantly as they burned. Everyone started singing happy birthday to the twins who were acting like they were too cool for the party hats Tamaki brought. Hunny came over and put mine on my head for me, as if I were a little kid. He smiled and commented on how cute I am and he skipped back over to his chair next to Mori. I was seated between Hikaru and Tamaki, and I had a plan for the so-called "King" of the Host Club.

We finished singing, trying to say the part "Happy birthday to Hikaru and Kaoru" in one breath, and we all clapped at the end. The boys were trying to have a totally cool demeanor, but we could see the look of fascination in their faces as they eyed the cake.

"Alright, blow out allllll the candles!" Tamaki sang as he held a camera. The twins paused (thinking of their wish, perhaps?) and took in a deep breath and blew them out, taking a quick pause to catch another gasp of air. We all clapped and Tamaki snapped pictures. I saw Yuzuha also had a camera out, taking almost as many pictures as the "King". I couldn't tell who was being more maternal.

We each had a slice of cake served on fine china plates decorated with orange and blue flowers. The cake is both chocolate and vanilla, since the twins loved both of those flavors equally as much. Hunny immediately gobbled the slice and quickly asked for seconds. Mori reminded him to be polite and wait, but Kazuha waved off Mori's lesson on politeness and gave him another piece. Needless to say, he was ecstatic.

Tamaki put his camera down and got ready to eat some of the cake that was set in front of him. "Tamaki-senpai, I think you already have some cake on your face," I stated, all matter-of-factly.

"Impossible! I haven't even eaten any!" He wiped his face frantically in search of some cake that wasn't really there.

"Here, look at me, and I'll get it." I readied my plate and as Tamaki turned his head to face me, I slammed the piece of cake into his face and laughed. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, and pretty much everyone started laughing, even Mr. Hitachiin. The twins were basically bawling their eyes out and Hunny said that I shouldn't have wasted that cake.

"Oops," I muttered as I stared at the blonde boy with cake all over him.

"Why would you do that?" he started wiping off his face, but he did it frantically enough to actually wipe more cake into his hair. :3

"Payback. You attacked me with a hose, you get attacked by cake. Simple as that." I then took his plate of cake and bit into the delectable dessert.

-**after cake, when everyone's talking and presents are being brought out**-

Yuzuha was grabbing all of the wrapped gifts and put them in a giant pile for the boys to unwrap. I handed her my gift in the plain white box with the red ribbon and she put it on top. The boys started unwrapping a few gifts. Haruhi bought them a set of matching little devil key chains, and the two laughed. They were totally amused by the key chains and they thanked her.

Kyoya gave them a book on greatest battle victories of all time and the two oo'd and ahhh'd at the book. They probably couldn't wait to start reading the book, seeing as how the two were fascinated by war upsets.

Tamaki gave them matching shirts that said "Thing 1" and "Thing 2", just like from ' Cat In the Hat, but they thought it was kinda lame. They thanked him anyway for it.

Hunny and Mori bought the twins a prank set consisting of every classic prank you could think of... and even more. Yuzuha warned the twins to be careful and not to use it on innocent people, and the two boys groaned in protest, eventually losing to their mother.

Kazuha handed Hikaru and Kaoru a gift wrapped in blue flowered paper. They opened it and inside was the Book of Etiquette for Boys. The two really did not appreciate the book, but after a warning glance from their mother, they quickly muttered a thank you.

The plain white box with the red ribbon was now being handed to the boys, who looked at it and wondered what could possibly be inside. They both carefully grabbed an end of the ribbon and pulled, untying it. They lifted the lid and picked up a silver picture frame. The picture that was framed inside was the three of us, pretending to be the three musketeers in a play I had written and Yuzuha had made costumes for. The picture was pretty adorable, especially with us in costume.

The two just stared at it for a while and they both gave a very sincere thank you. Everyone passed it around and commented on the adorableness of the picture, especially Tamaki, who seemed extremely enthusiastic about anything related to theater.

I got a hug from the twins as they sat down and their parents presented Kaoru with a leather bound set of Shakespeare's complete sets (since Kaoru loves literature and all) and Hikaru with a set of professional headphones since he loves listening to music. When I saw the book more closely, I realized that it was actual dyed leather...with ACTUAL gold engraving on the cover...And the headphones that Hikaru got are high tech and the latest on the market, so at least several grand... They also had actual gold on them! :O

-**two hours later**-

We were all tired from today's chaos. The rest of the Host Club and I were ready to leave, and we all said our goodbyes. Yuzuha kept telling me I should come visit, and that I could stop by whenever I want to. Mr. Hitachiin reaffirmed this with me, and Kazuha said she pitied me for being a friend to two hooligans.

Hikaru and Kaoru gave her a dirty look, and we had a group hug. I wished them a happy birthday and kissed them both on their cheeks. A slight blush rose up on both of them, and I thanked them for a fun day. The two kittens were getting impatient, and I had to get them home so I could feed them and make them up a cat bed.

I said my final goodbyes once more, and headed home.

-**Kaoru**-

Hikaru and I watched as Hanae-chan walked off. She insisted she walks home, but we asked Hunny and Mori to drop her off near her house so she won't get lost at night.

"That was a decent night," Hikaru said.

"It wasn't bad at all, but I'm tired," I responded with a slight yawn.

"Me too. Bed time?"

I nodded and we walked hand in hand to our room.

We both went to sleep with smiles on our faces.


End file.
